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Demand for boats and other watercraft has grown during COVID-19 restrictions in the UK, according to industry body British Marine.

The rebound last summer — following a dramatic 40% sales slump between March and May 2020 as the first lockdowns were imposed — appears to have been fuelled by a surge in domestic tourism amid curtailments on international travel.

Data from Boats Group shows that overall sales from June to the end of the year grew more than 50% over the same period in 2019.

And some of the biggest gains were in more expensive (>£100,000) boats, which in 2020 enjoyed an 18% rise in unit sales over the previous year.

“Last summer we were seeing evidence and hearing regular news about the staycation effect and boom in sales for leisure marine businesses,” British Marine chief executive Lesley Robinson said.

“However I am delighted that these anecdotal stories are now backed up with the empirical data.”

About Commander Bill King, Solo Circumnavigator

William Donald Aelian King was the last surviving submarine commander in the Second World War - in charge of the British Navy's T-class Telemachus that sank a Japanese sub in the Strait of Malacca, between Malaysia and Sumatra, in 1944.

Decorated many times for his service by the end of the war, King became a trailblazing solo sailor.

At the age of 58, he was the oldest participant in The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race sailing Galway Blazer II, a junk-rigged schooner he designed himself.

After a number of abortive attempts, including an incident with "a large sea creature", he finally completed his solo circumnavigation of the globe in 1973.

Beyond his aquatic escapades, King settled with his wife Anita (who died in 1984, aged 70) at Oranmore Castle outside Galway after the war, where he later developed a pioneering organic farm and garden to help tackle his wife's asthma.

The round-the-world sailor and Galway native Bill King died on Friday, 21 September, 2012, aged 102.