Full Report
We first discussed the London Boat Show 2009 at my first committee meeting as chairman. This year would not be like previous years where we could just bowl up and do our thing. This year, things were getting tighter all round. The stand would be smaller, and the costs would be higher and if we wanted part of it, we would have to contribute some hard cash. This was discussed for a long time at the committee meeting but it was decided that the overall benefit from previous experiences fully justified the contribution made to SpeedsailUK to be a part of the stand. You can see from the pictures on the home page that we took full advantage of the generosity of Graham Bobin and Speedsail UK by having a very visual impact on the stand with a large flag and a pull up display (generously donated by our latest small sponsor Awesome Blokart Centre).
Chris Moore represented the BLSA for every day (bar one) of the show. I spent a few days there too and I was bowled over by the enthusiasm and response that we had from those that visited the stand. It was obvious from the first day that there was huge interest in the sport and so many people wanted to have a go. As a response to this we have created another BLSA Fun Weekend to try and accommodate them. This is the one advertised on the Home page and in the Events calendar on the 7th / 8th Feb. This will also help revitalise an existing venue in Harwich Essex, where attendance and enthusiasm seems to have dwindled. We gave out over 100 flyers to interested people for this event alone! Lets try and make this a fantastic event and get as many BLSA members there as possible.
Those that were interested but not in that part of the country were given details of the nearest dealer or local BLSA organiser so that they can set something uo to get them into a Blokart.
Another bonus of being at the show was the feedback that we received, especially about where members were sailing, some of which we didn't know about or just had bee rumoured to be in use. All of these locations are going onto a map and into a list that will soon be available on the web site. A number of previous members visited us and took away renewal forms, so we hope to see them back in the fold soon.
We also had a good deal of interest from some large companies that were interested in the national championships and there may be sponsorship opportunities there.
Overall, I thought it was a great success and well worth the BLSA being represented on the stand. Everyone that visited the stand took away an information pack with flyers explaining what the BLSA is all about. Since the show started we had a significant increase in 'hits' on the website.
I hope to see as many of you as possible around the country during 2009.
Initial Feedback from the London Boat Show...
I spent Saturday and Sunday on the Speedsail UK Blokart stand with Chris Moore (who is there for the entire show) talking to interested show goers and a real theme started to appear. People are very interested and want to 'have a go' but there is a real lack of places to blokart in certain parts of the country. One of these is East Anglia and the bordering counties. In response to this plea, I have been in touch with Tim Spurge who owns Great Oakley Airfield near Harwich. Tim is keen to kick start Blokart Sailing at this location and to help get this going we are thinking of organising a BLSA Fun event over day or a weekend in either early Feb or March. This should hopefully open up the sport to a number of interested people throughout this part of the country. Tim has two websites that give further details ( www.greatoakleyairfield.co.uk and www.blokarteastanglia.co.uk ) but at the time this was written they were experiencing a few problems so Keep an eye on the BLSA website for further details or contact me on chairman@theblsa.com or call Tim on 01255 880045
The BLSA at the London Boat Show
The BLSA will be represented on the Speedsail UK stand at the London Boat Show from the 9th - 18th January. Chris Moore has taken time out from his work to be there everyday of the show to promote the BLSA's role in the support of Blokart Sailing and hopefully sign up new members to our fast growing sport. I also hope to be there during the first and last weekends and probably one day in between. Don't forget that there will be some good deals with special Boat Show prices. Come along and see the latest Blokart products and say hello, there's even a few other stands around to see too! Nick Dodge.