It was a calculated risk to go for broke, after last year's disastrous washout on the second day bit deep into the festival's reserves, admitted chairman Roger Goodyear.

But it was a risk which certainly paid off as the extra two days, new international marketing, additional craft displays and demonstrators, and an ambitious music and entertainment programme combined to pull in more than ten times the town's population.

Exact attendance figures will not be clear for a few days, until the wristbands are audited.

But chairman Roger Goodyear was in confident mood when he spoke to the Journal at the close of the festival: "'Amazing' is the only word I can use," he said.

"We set a target of 20,000 visitors, and I am very confident that we have passed that.

This will help recover last year's losses, and is vital in allowing us to build up our reserves again.

"Overall we are relieved – and stunned.

"We took a calculated risk after last year; we could have pulled our horns in, but we chose not to.

"We have had enormous help from the Year of Homecoming, and of course four days of wonderful weather.

"We have been delighted and proud to have taken part in the Homecoming programme, and indeed the global awareness the promotion has created has been a great fillip to our overall standing.

"Homecoming has ensured that the boat festival is now firmly on the international calendar, and we are determined to keep it that way!"

As well as Princess Anne, festival guests included First Minister and local MP Alex Salmond, Aberdeenshire Provost Bill Howatson, and the Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire, Clare Russell.

Mr Salmond took the opportunity to launch a new updated Events Guide for the Year of Homecoming, and spent most of Saturday afternoon at the festival.

He told the crowd that he had only missed one of the sixteen Portsoy festivals, and recalled its early very modest beginnings.

He noted that there were visitors from all over the world, from England – and even from Buckie: "This is the best boat festival in the world.

"I'm delighted to be here, and I know it will advance from strength to strength," he said.

Provost Howatson described the event as "one of the jewels in the crown of North-east Scotland."

He praised the festival for its success in tripling attendance numbers in just eight years, and pointed out that it injected something like £2.6 million into the local economy.

The festival secured a £5,000 Homecoming grant from Aberdeenshire Council, complementing the £7,000 in funding they received from the Scottish Government, as well as money from other sources.

A number of Aberdeenshire Council services also helped organisers, including the roads department, harbour engineers and landscape services.

"Without this unsung help, I very much doubt if we could go ahead with the festival," Mr Goodyear said. "Aberdeenshire Council has also very generously helped us improve our signage so that people can find their way round the festival, and this is a significant improvement over previous years."

But the financial aspect was far from the minds of the huge crowds which thronged the festival.

Visitors from far and near came to explore their roots and enjoy an exciting programme combining traditional boat building and restoration, the music of the sea and the traditions of knitting.

The first two days of the festival were devoted to presentations and demonstrations by national and international experts in boatbuilding and seafaring.

boardman_g@spp-group.com

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