As Sunseeker prepares to unveil a new 40-metre boat at the Southampton Show, Tom Isitt takes a look at how the UK industry is faring.

It all seemed to be going so well. The British superyacht industry was going from strength to strength. Sunseeker were building beyond 40 metres, Devonport were dipping a toe into the superyacht market (as well as making frigates for the Navy), Princess were edging closer and closer to pukka superyacht territory, and US superyacht builder Palmer Johnson were setting up a manufacturing facility at Hythe near Southampton to build 170-footers.

Yep, it all seemed quite rosy back in early 2008. And we all know what happened next. We all got our sub-primes in a twist and the bankers and hedgefund managers broke the global economy. Or something like that. By the end of 2009, Sunseeker appeared to be having cash-flow problems, Devonport had withdrawn their toe from the apparently toxic waters of the superyacht market, and the brokers were offering nine million Euros off the price of a secondhand 60-metre boat.