First impressions of the 2013 Tullett Prebon London Boat Show are that there is a real buzz about the place.

Held in the ExCel London, the event opened its doors yesterday, Saturday 12 January, and will run until Sunday 20 January.

Today’s events diary began with a live search and rescue demonstration by the Royal Navy with the mark 5 Sea King Helicopter in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Search and Rescue.

Commanding officer of the 771 naval air squadron Martin Shepherd said: ‘This is the first year we’ve performed at the boat show.

‘Normally a naval frigate or destroyer would attend but we asked if we could do this year’s boat show as a launch for our year of events to mark 60 years of Search and Rescue.’

Jack Moule, the four-time British freestyle jet ski champio, also showed off his skills and tricks in the marina at midday and will be performing again at 2pm.

There has also been a question and answer session with the world’s best wakeboarders at the Nautique C280 stand, which will be repeated with legendary rider Shaun Murray at 4pm.

Practical Boat Owner (PBO) editor Sarah Norbury described it as a ‘show of two halves’ – in terms of how the power and sail boats are being displayed.

She urged readers to have a look in the motor boat hall and said: ‘If you’re not looking for a big glitzy motor cruiser, do take the time to walk right around the motor boat section as there are a lot of smaller motor boats on display.

‘There are all varieties and types including hovercraft, RIBs, work boats and small sports fishing boats.’

Subscriptions are selling fast at the PBO stand – C162 – as new readers take advantage of the show offers and gifts.

All readers are welcome to visit the stand to enter our competition.

This year’s great prizes are an iPad mini, a Nook and a Kindle Fire HD, all of them ideal gadgets for reading PBO on the move!

If you haven’t seen the PBO digital edition, just ask one of our friendly staff for a demonstration.

Big names to have attended the London Boat Show so far include Olympic sailing legend Ben Ainslie and Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans.

We hope to see you here!