Nick Burnham: What joins all these disparate experiences together is a shared bond. The joy of life afloat.
Two years ago a gentleman approached me at a boat show to tell me how much he enjoys AQUAHOLIC. Not an unusual occurrence, but this particular chap was famous comedian Jim Davidson. I thanked him and, half jokingly, asked him if he’d like to film a ‘Meet The Owner’ video with me? He said he’d love to. We met aboard his beautiful Princess 61 and he was brilliant. Warm, funny, self-deprecating and with a rich stock of boating tales, what came across most was his love of boating. The video was a hit, over a million views. Many people commented, saying they’d seen a very different side to Jim to the one the tabloids love to portray.
Meet The Owner actually came about almost by accident. A chap called Nick Whale had a Princess 56 and wondered whether I’d like to film it? I said I’d love to, but already had one on the channel. Nick suggested I interview him instead, he could show us his boat and talk about his boating history. Knowing nothing about interviewing anyone, I agreed and we met in Poole aboard his immaculate boat. It went well. Nick was very candid about his boating history, his business successes and failures that had influenced his boat choices and the price of his scatter cushions (I’ve spent less on cars!). Meet The Owner was born.
Since then, I’ve filmed many Meet The Owners, each one fascinating in its own way. Tom and Lorraine drew on years of sailing experience to design a boat, and then built it themselves from scratch in a large shed (which they also built). John Williams explained why the Sunseeker Superhawk 40 he bought 15 years ago is his perfect boat and why h
