Fairline, Princess and Sunseeker, the whole of Britain's motor yacht building, trace back to three founders on the south coast between 1963 and 1969.
The British Motor Yacht Show returns to Swanwick Marina on the River Hamble in Hampshire from Thursday 20 to Sunday 23 May 2027. Britain’s builders show their yachts there afloat.
Fairline, Princess and Sunseeker, the show’s three founding partners, are the whole of British motor yacht building. Jack Newington started Fairline at Oundle in Northamptonshire in 1963, and Princess was established in Plymouth in 1965 as Marine Projects.
The Braithwaite brothers founded Poole Power Boats in 1969, and it became Sunseeker in 1985. Between them the three built a volume boatbuilding industry in a country that had none.
Premier Marinas curates the show for serious buyers. A buyer steps aboard from a pontoon, sees the hull at the angle it sits and can be taken out on it. New vessels are regularly unveiled here, and the 2026 edition closed with record attendance.
Swanwick sits six miles east of Southampton on the upper reaches of the Hamble. The river has built boats for centuries and holds one of the densest concentrations of yachting infrastructure in Britain, which is why the show is held there.
Entry is free, by registration rather than by ticket.