It is not just the
gleaming new yachts that are capturing the imagination at the
London Boat Show 2013.

Renowned yachting
author Roger Taylor has been in demand for tales of his adventures
aboard a 1980 Corribee 20, which is on display at the show for the
first time.

The yacht, Mingming 1,
which is exhibited in exactly the same condition she was in after
returning from a voyage to Spitsbergen and 80 degrees north in 2011.

Mr Taylor said: ‘The
World Cruising section organisers invited me to the show.

‘It’s the first time
I’ve come with the boat.

“There’s been a
fantastic response, I’ve been talking to people from 10am to 6pm
without stop – until 7pm at the weekend.’

Mingming 1 is one of
three boats displayed in the world cruising section of the show.

Displayed with its junk
rigged sail, Mingming1 shows what a small boat can achieve, sailing
mainly in high latitudes.

Mr Taylor has completed
20,000 adventurous ocean miles within six years aboard Mingming1, he
has sailed it along the Davis Strait to the west of Freeland into the
Arctic ice, to the east of Greenland and completed a circumnavigation
of Iceland.

Mr Taylor, who is based
in Burnham-on-Crouch, has twice visited the isolated Arctic island of
Jan Mayen and completed the Azores Jester Challenge in 21 days.

The 65-year-old, single-handed sailor said he did it for the ‘adventure, solitude, the wildlife and challenge’.

He added:
‘I’m now preparing an Achilles 24 for another round of high Arctic
voyages.

‘Setting off in 2014,
probably May.’

Also on display is
Nutmeg, a 1971 Nicholson 38, which the Holden family bought from
north west Scotland in a neglected state and carried out an extensive
refit before setting off on an Atlantic adventure.

And Dancing with Waves,
a 1990 Westerly Oceanranger 38, which Brian Thomas achieved a
lifetime’s ambition on when he and three friends completed a
12,000-mile voyage to the Caribbean and back .

Find out more about Mr
Taylor and Mingming 1 at www.thesimplesailor.com

Read of Nutmeg’s
Atlantic adventure online at http://blog.mailasail.com/nutmeg