Falling in love again.

We went to Beale Park boat show at the week-end and had a really great time meeting up with old friends and making some new aquaintances. It really is a great atmosphere, everyone is very friendly helpful and they generally know their stuff so its not a place for blagging.

A couple of months ago there was a really nice photo in Classic Boats of Andrew Wolstenholm's little Coot dinghy, it really has the prettiest sheer and looks great on the water. This was Andrew's own boat which he sails with his daughter.

Walking around the Old Gaffers trailer section boats I noticed a similar boat which looked really great. Talking to Chris P he told me this was the very same boat, and I can promise you she looks just as nice in reality and I am truly besotted.

Earlier in the day I'd seen a very pretty dinghy with a swallow emblem sailing on the lake and was informed by Chris P it was a Wolstenholm Swallow.

I later watched its owner builder recover her and went over to admire his handy work which Chris P reckoned should have won the competition last year ahead of his own Scotch Mist, praise indeed! Standing chatting as you do I slowly became aware that the other bloke with him was in fact Andrew Wolstenholm himself, who had just had his first sail in a Swallow!

It was Andrew who told me that Alex Jordan was working up a planks kit for the Coot and to have a word. Its that kind of show.

All of this reminded me of a very pretty boat which came to the Cotswold HBBR meeting in Sept '07 called Jackson's Cracker, again a Wolstenholm design this time the Mallard. This little trio of boats are all really pretty but my heart has been stolen by the prettiest of them all.

Now where's Alex' phone number.