Two records fall at Boat Share Show

Two records fell at this year's National Boat Share Show held at Braunston Marina last weekend.

There were more boats on show than ever before – 21 narrowboats attracted over 250 visitors to the show.  Shares on offer ranged in price from around £1,000 to nearly £10,000, depending on the age and specification of the boats. 

Owners, visitors and management companies brought together
at the National Boat Share Show.  Breaking Dawn is the new
syndicate boat from BCBM, launched at the show.

The high number of boats meant that there wasn't enough space in the marina basin, so six of the boats were moored just outside on the towpath, thanks to the provision of reserved moorings by the Canal & River Trust.  The 54ft traditional narrowboat boat, Tess, was also the first ever self-managed boat to take part in the show.

One of the youngest visitors admires the paintwork on Valkyrie

Visitors found the show useful in explaining what shared ownership had to offer and what shares were available.  One visitor commented "The show was brilliant for talking and gathering information and everybody was really friendly. What was going to be a quick 1hr visit extended to nearly 4hrs."

The second record to fall was for share sales in a single boat – five shares changed hands in the narrowboat Symphony – at 22 years old, a real veteran of shared ownership.  Symphony is managed for the owners' syndicate by Ownashare Cruising.

The National Boat Share Show takes place in April each year thanks to the generosity of Braunston Marina.  In recognition of this, the organisers – boatshare4u.co.uk – have made a £1,000 donation to the Friends of Raymond, the boat restoration charity that is supported by the marina.  The butty boat Raymond and the powered boat Nutfield were on view as usual at these events, alongside the shared ownership boats.

The Autumn Boat Share Show is being held in conjunction with the RNLI Festival at Overwater Marina in Cheshire on the weekend of 3rd & 4th September.