DuoGen - December 2003 Newsletter

London International Boat Show 8 – 18th January 2004

You must come to visit us on Stand S2406 at the fiftieth London Boat Show. This will, of course, be the first show at its new venue, ExCel beside the Royal Victoria Dock in East London.
It will be a very special show, with bigger attractions and better facilities. See the celebrity boats, tall ships and naval ships on the dockside, where there will be laser light shows after dark and live race demonstrations during the day.
Visit the 1500 seat Watersports arena with a 25 knot wind machine, where you can watch UK Indoor Windsurfing Championships as well as demonstrations of all sorts of water sports from kayaking to fishing.
Relax in the Inland Waterways feature with wild gardens and even a riverside pub!
The London Boat Show really does have something for all the family, with an even bigger selection of shopping and browsing for boating and watersports enthusiasts. Details at www.schroderslondonboatshow.com

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The Future of Yachting

At the Marine Equipment Trade Show (METS) in Amsterdam last month, DuoGen was very enthusiastically received by visitors from many sectors of the leisure marine industry.
A panel of Industry experts at the Breakfast Meeting which preceded the Show looked ahead to marine equipment and systems by 2010. They predict that customers will want ‘hassle free’ boating. Even smaller boats will have lots of time- and trouble- saving equipment and will monitor all their systems on a single flat screen.
The panel also believe that, in order to grow, boating has to appeal to the whole family and become “safer and more comfortable for our customers” – people are used to all conveniences even in their car, and don’t want to go ‘back to basics’ when they go boating.
Finally, the experts foresee more regulation of environmental and safety issues.
All these visions indicate a positive future for DuoGen, a product which produces power as you sail to run on-board equipment for your comfort, convenenience and safety, quietly and without harming the environment.

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Ocean Challenge 2003

Jim Shekhdar has been forced to abandon his attempt to row the Southern Ocean, when his 26-foot boat, ‘Hornette’, was battered by 80-knot winds and huge seas 800 miles east of New Zealand.
At first, ‘Hornette’ rode the storm well, but then she was pitchpoled, throwing Jim headfirst against a hatch, leaving him badly cut and dazed. In the following hours, ‘Hornette’ was capsized and rolled through 360º at least 15 times. This swept away all deck-mounted gear and equipment including his oars, communication aerials and DuoGen’s air turbine.
The extent of the damage to both the boat and himself was such that it was not possible for Jim to continue.
In response to his distress call, Jim and ‘Hornette’ were successfully picked up by the NZ research vessel, ‘Tangaroa’, and he expects to be landed back in New Zealand by mid-December.
We at Eclectic send Jim our congratulations on his achievement in making Ocean Challenge 2003 a reality, and our commiserations that the outcome was not the one he would have chosen.
Knowing Jim as we do, I am sure his spirit of adventure will not be diminished by the experience, and it wouldn’t surprise me to learn of an Ocean Challenge 2004!
Well done Jim!!


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