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LEADIN: The 60th London Boat show is bringing together some of the UK marine industry's most expensive and exclusive super-yachts under one roof. After a few difficult years in a poor economic climate, the yachting industry is adapting, expanding and looking ahead to growth in 2015. STORYLINE: UK boat builder Princess is showing off its new S-Class 72 foot yacht (21.9 metres) at the London Boat Show. This impressive yacht is a hybrid, combining the speed and open-air appeal of its sports range with the creature comforts and upper deck of its fly-bridge boats. Depending on specification, the S-Class 72 is priced at around 2 million British pounds ($3 million USD). Princess, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, is adapting its business model to make a more universal yacht, combining the benefits of several of its designs. The result is a more universal vessel which - Princess hope - will appeal to a wider audience. William Green, sales director at Princess explains: "The S72 is the first of a new concept for us. So, our new S-class line is there to give sports yacht appeal to the world market and to give something new to the world's boat buyers." Princess is just one of several UK yacht builders that visitors are keen to see at the London Boat Show. But before they can get into the exhibition hall, they must first pass through this curtain of water. They won't need their best waterproof yachting jackets for this gimmick though - electronic sensors cut the water when people walk through and, in theory, nobody should get wet. The show takes place at London's ExCel centre, where giant yachts can be floated down the river Thames in the historic dockland area of the capital. Just getting the boats onto their stands can take up to three weeks for larger companies like Fairline. The British luxury yacht builder is launching its new Shadow yacht at the show. The Shadow S starts from GBP�399,500 ($605,152 USD). But this special show model would set you back GBP�460,000 ($696,814 USD). The boat has only just been launched, but Fairline says it has already received two confirmed orders from the United States. After some turbulent years for the Northamptonshire-based builder, it is now starting to emerge from the global financial downturn. Fairline has also had to change its business model to adapt to the new economic environment. Nick Sanders, chairman of Fairline, says: "I think the market has changed fundamentally since the crash in 2008, boats are not sold in the same way, in the same markets as they were before and I think everybody in the marine leisure industry has had to adapt to that new reality. The market didn't bounce back when things got slightly better economically. And then the industry is in a different place to where it was five years ago, so all of us in this industry have had to adapt our business models, be more flexible and be faster on our feet to adapt to a difficult market, but one that's actually now probably starting to grow again a little bit." The full economic impact of the UK marine industry - and spend associated with boating participation - was estimated to total 6.2 billion British pounds ($9.4 billion USD) in 2012/13, according to a new report released by the British Marine Federation (BMF). This represents a positive upward trend in the sector. More significantly, the UK's super-yacht market has grown 7.1 percent in 2013/14, compared to the previous year. It is now worth 492 million British pounds ($745 million USD) to the country. Sunseeker created the biggest spectacle of the show when it invited pop singer and former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger to open its stand. But Sunseeker's enormous 28-metre (91.8 feet) super-yacht was attracting just as much attention. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/f5d92836bd179a15272f2dd651308455 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork