Early October and it’s time for my favourite boat show, the Annapolis Sailboat Show. You might expect a high level of sophistication from the US’s major sailing boat show but compared to the main European events it is closer to county fair than international exhibition. And in that lies its charm.

The Yachting World crew, Michael Beattie, David Pugh and Richard and myself spent this morning assembling our stand, which comes complete with parking meter in the middle. The DIY banner and flag structure has increased in complexity over the years and this year’s was to be the most sophisticated yet, consisting of yards of plastic piping, elbow and T connectors, line and, of course, gaffer tape. As the picture shows the design team’s calculations were a little out. With so much top hamper the pipes were not able to take the load and bent alarmingly. But with typical genius the problem was solved by sleeving the legs with even more piping for stiffness. Next year it will be carbon fibre.