A WORCESTERSHIRE boat building company is celebrating following the 'world premier' of its new model at the London Boat Show.

Sealine International, of Kidderminster, launched its S23 sports cruiser at the Earls Court Show last Thursday and so far reactions have been "one hundred per cent positive".

Sealine, which employs more than 440 people at its 14-acre site on Whitehouse Road, also launched its new tender, the SX70 Jet Rib, at the show.

"It looks like we've got a couple of good winners," said chairman Gerard Wainwright, who bought the company in 1998.

"There's not been a single negative - everything's been very favourable."

Last year, Mr Wainwright sold the award-winning company - it won the British Nautical Motorboat of the Year award in 1998 and 2000 - to pleasure boat company The Brunswick Corporation for £49m.

The two new models bring the company's range of powerboats to 14 - all made on the Kidderminster site, which even has its own training school.

Only the upholstery is done elsewhere - at a wholly-owned subsidiary called Fibratrim, in Burntwood, Staffordshire.

There is also a sales outlet in Brixham, Devon, and in April last year a sales office in Majorca was opened.

Seventy per cent of sales are to overseas customers in more than 20 countries. Last year, the company turned over around £50m and sales from this year's London Boat Show should come in at about £6m.

Mr Wainwright is expecting the seven-metre S23 - which has been designed with the first-time buyer in mind - to do well because of its safety and comfort features.

"The sea is a hostile environment and there's nothing more frightening if you don't feel confident," said Mr Wainwright.

"The S23 is a good starter boat and should ensure owners aren't frightened off at their first try. We're confident that people will be suitably impressed with the quality of our boats to stick with them in the long-term."

When he is not travelling the world attending one of 28 boat shows in Scandinavia, Europe and USA, Mr Wainwright lives on a farm in Shropshire, on the Welsh border.

Following the London Boat Show, which runs until this Sunday, January 13, he will head straight to Dusseldorf and then Miami.