The 2009 PSP Southampton Boat Show will be opened by Sophie Ellis-Bextor on Friday 11 September. The glamorous singer will officially kick off the 10-day marine extravaganza featuring the best of boating, watersports and lifestyle.

Sophie will sail into Mayflower Park aboard the dazzling new Princess 78 motor yacht, which will receive her global debut at the Show, to greet assembled photographers for a photo call on the marina at 10:00 hrs.

At 11:00 hrs Sophie will host the Show’s official opening on the Record Breaker Stage. She will pose for photographs and chat to the Show compere before cutting the ribbon and declaring the 2009 PSP Southampton Boat Show open.

Leading electronics manufacturer, Mastervolt, threw its expertise – and its latest hardware – behind British 17-year-old Mike Perham’s single-handed circumnavigation of the World. The plucky teenager had already entered the record books as the youngest person to sail single-handed across the Atlantic at age 14, but now enters them again having accomplished this ultimate achievement. Mike now holds the record, having spent 158 days at sea and being just 17 years and 164 days on completion.

Mike’s team chartered a water-ballasted Open 50, Totallymoney.com, for the journey, which came with a proven racing track-record - and was the boat in which JP Mouligne sailed the Round Alone event in 1998. Mike’s trip covered approximately 30,000 miles, taking Mike across the equator and every single line of longitude on the earth’s surface.

17 year-old British sailor Mike Perham is now within a day of becoming the youngest person to sail single-handed around the world. He now expects his 50ft yacht Totallymoney.com  to reach the Lizard line marking the start and finish point of his 30,000 mile record-setting odyssey between 08:30 and 09:30 local Thursday morning - two months inside the current record.

Overnight, the teenager from Potters Bar, Hertfordshire has had to cope with the tail-end effects of Hurricane Bill which has now split into two distinct low pressure systems. The huge seas now running in the Western Approaches forced Mike to stay away from the Continental Shelf overnight but this is not expected to delay his arrival off Falmouth by very much.

Premier is pleased to announce that they will be holding the Premier Used Boat Show from 11th – 20th September at Swanwick Marina.  The show, now in it’s 30th year has been hailed in the press as the “Best Used Boat Show on the South Coast” and Premier are proud to continue with this event.  Entry and parking at the show is FREE and the show is open from 10am–7pm daily.

This year Premier are working with onsite Swanwick tenants, Princess, Walton Marine and Dickies International to offer even more high quality used boats across the board.  There will be boats from Elan, Moody, Island Packet, Jeanneau, Beneteau, and Princess as well as many other well known brands.  Raymarine are also supporting the show and will have a presence inside the show marquee.

After publishing for 62 years, Yachts & Yachting went into administration last week, but the title has been bought by GNM Media, which counts Y&Y editor Gael Pawson and online editor Mark Jardine as directors.
 
The magazine's parent company, Yachting Press Ltd will be closing its Southend offices and the magazine's sister publication, Boards, has a new home with Factory Media.

'By acting speedily we have secured a smooth transition for readers and advertisers alike,’ said Ms Pawson. ‘Subscribers are assured that their subscriptions will be fulfilled and they will continue to receive their copies as normal.