100 Favourite Power Boats - Old Hat

wakeup

wakeup

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 Mar 2002
Messages
3,033
Location
Cote d'Azur
Visit site
I've just been looking at this list. It occours to me it is wildly out of date. When was this compiled? Most of these boats are mid-eighties. Just goes to show that MBY do very few boat tests and don't have the raw material to fill the list.

I picked up a French Motor boat magzine whilst in France earlier this year and it was packed with boat tests and real equipement tests. e.g. they tested 18 day boats in one publication and evaluated each of them using the same criteria and even did speed tests for each as well as comprehensive photos of all the models.

I think we should be getting more for our money from MBY.

Come on MBY more boat tests, more proper equipment tests, more often.



yada yada..
 
Re: aha! agreed

I did offer to do a boat test, but somehow it never happened! I fully agree that massive group tests are great fun, and more useful cos it defines the market and gets the manufacturers to sharpen up their act instead of saying "we do it our way".

However, can't agree with power of clarkson, as with cars, who knows not too much aboutem and only likes his ferrari. So, probly best to have a load of chat and then some qualitative plus/minus points.
 
I'll leave MBY to defend their editorial policies with regard to current issues but in fairness the '100 most popular' section is an internet archive that we have had live on the website for some time now and it is accessed by a reasonable number of people still who are looking for often elusive info on older boats...similar to the MBM book on the same subject that is no more up-to-date than the mid 1980s.

None of the current boat tests are offered live here from any of the magazines but you can get a feel for what has been covered by looking at the Indexes section.

Incidentally, group tests are always a major headache to organise in terms of getting everyone to agree certain type of boat in certain type of place on exact date, although we had several in my day at MBM. They only really lend themselves to tests on smaller craft as the bigger ones are virtually impossible to get together, especially at times such as these where most of the production is already spoken for and owners are waiting for delivery.

I'm not going to get into the reasons why, but the small new boat market is much more buoyant in France and Germany and the journalists on the leading magazines there make quite a specialism of the kind of test you have written about and generally have more choice of products immediately available and ready to roll from local dealers.

That said, if that sector is your interest why not email the editors of both of our motorboating magazines, alan_harper@ipcmedia.com (MBY) and jake_kavanagh@ipcmedia.com (MBM) to ensure they are aware of your views and interests.

kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com
 
Re: aha! agreed

What was great about the boat test I saw was that 4 of the boats were the same size and length. All claimed they had maxtrack hull this, planu hull that unique hulls that were ultra efficient, yet there were BIG differences in performance which goes to show alot of these Trade Marked hull designs are bull shit. Can't hide from a clock on a test like this.

Also I would think it would make a journos life easier if they can step from one boat to another immediately and feel the diference. I have done this with skis and the diferences are really noticeable if you ski on one type for an hour then another and so one, but if you try different skis a day at a time you tend to forget what the last apir were like and tend to prefer the ones you're currently on.

Would be nice to hear from MBY journos on this and why they don't do as their French counterparts do.

So if things don't shape up at MBY. I will be considering a sub to Moteur Boat!!

FWIW IMHO

yada yada..
 
Seems the obvious that there is one and soon to be two good opportunities to test a whole range of boats. Southampton is surely a good time (Out side of show days) to perform a mass test. You could do several and role them out over three or four months worth of MBY. London BS will be on water soon also so another good opportunity.

If the French can organise such test surely the Brits can !!.

Lame excuse if you ask me but keep on taking the £3.50 per copy anyway..

yada yada..
 
You mean the editors of the mags don't look at these forum's. You surprise me. I would have thought that they could get a idea of what their readerships are talking about. Easiest piece of market research going!

The 100 favorite is a good place to start to looking when it gets time for "What shall we have next" type conversations with the otherhalf. I looked at a few boats there as having 2 kids, it is getting a bit cramped in the Tremlett!

Mmmmm. When you break it. You break it big time!!
 
Southampton they all turn up about 30mins before the pontoon access gates are shut. And have you ever seen the end :-)

London 2004 most of them will still be ashore, I'm sure of that, even with acres of water alongside. Might be able to organise a Sunseeker 105 versus RN frigate test, although 30 knots in a dock basin on either might be a bit alarming, given that the PLA are on an anti-wake campaign upstream of Sea Reach. Otherwise exhibitors will be happy to stay in Excel's heated spaces I suspect.

Not lame excuse, just slightly different market conditions. More relevant and out of interest, what size/price brackets would you like to see these tests cover?

kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com
 
Is it me, or don't the forums get much of a mention in the magazines. Am I just not looking or is there a reason for this? I would a thought that the Eds could have their respective fingers on the pulse of whats the hot topic. Take the recent threads on Volvos. Now I know that they cant be seen to "slag" volvo engines, or a certain amount of revenue would be lost. A feature on sevicing repairs etc would be of interest though. Even on the older units, we dont all own brand new superyachts. Dare I say it. Petrol units have not been covered in I don't know how long.

I've been a bit dense here. Your not an Ed anymore are you? Still one of them might see it!

Mmmmm. When you break it. You break it big time!!
 
Re: aha! agreed

"What was great about the boat test I saw was that 4 of the boats were the same size and length. All claimed they had maxtrack hull this, planu hull that unique hulls that were ultra efficient, yet there were BIG differences in performance which goes to show alot of these Trade Marked hull designs are bull shit. Can't hide from a clock on a test like this. "

Trouble is, it isn't necessarily the speed per bhp that makes a good hull.

A few years ago two friends of mine had Sea Ray 200 cuddy cabins, same engine (Mercruiser 175hp) but one was the "new shape".

The newer one was demonstratively quicker flat out, but it pounded dreadfully. The old one was so superior in a chop it wasn't true! Basically the newer boat was much flatter bottomed. Less boat in the water, less drag, faster. But give me the old shape and 5 less knots flat out any day! At least you got to keep your fillings!
 
Barry,

The issue with VP and the like has never been revenue, as much as you might think that's me in corporate fudge mode. It's much more to do with establishing the accuracy of what exactly occurs in failures before being able to go to press. It's so much easier when it happens to a boat under the direct control of the mag which can then immediately document and photograph everything, as indeed happened to me back in 1999. What might well have initially been reported to us as material failure was in fact in that instance down to missed servicing procedures combined with not the most practical rocker cover design in the world. Even then it took us about four months and some final factory feedback tto get to the final 10 per cent understanding of what went wrong and my initial reports were inaccurate in places as a result, even though I'd been in the workshop for three days alongside the engine.

I always wanted to run a series of features that looked specifically at individual engine models rather than boats, to give all the key service points, known strengths and weaknesses, hints, tips, that kind of thing. Within that we could have added some of the hard-won info we gleaned on things on cruises in company - I still have the memories and knuckle scars.

Didn't happen before I left MBM, partly because we were still looking for the right people to help us but still think it's a good idea. I guess that's what you have in mind?

kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com
 
Exactly the sort of thing I was thinking about. After all it is MOTOR Boats Monthly. Yet there seems to be, in the issues that I have read, in depth features on the motor aspect.

I know the boat bit is the inportant bit, but the whole is the sum of its parts. Give them a push. Motors that are now out of production would be a good place to start, or the older units anyway. These are the units which are in the boats most of us buy secondhand.

Heres hoping

Mmmmm. When you break it. You break it big time!!
 
Re Group tests - memory lane from 1973

Thoroughly agree that group tests would be great. The best ever issue of MBY imho was April 1973 (first issue I ever had, I was 9) which had group test of 6 mid-30 footers (Laguna 10m, Birchwood 33, Apollo, a Powles I think, the fab Moonraker 36 flybridge, and a Fairey). They all blasted across the channel and back in massive waves. Fab article, great pics. Seriously Kim/Alan/Jake, pull it from the archives and take a look. I lost my copy 15 years ago but still remeber it as the best boat test format ever. Difficult to organise I know, but worth it imho
 
Clarkson

Shouldn't worry about the power of JC. He openly admits that when he recommends cars no one buys em and vice versa. He knows stuff all about the motor trade, I know 'cause my mate at CAP Motor Research tells me that he and Quentin are forever on the dog asking for info. All that said, he is quite amusing though:-))
 
Where is this list and how do i get to look at it ???

Adrian

Don't call me "Ian"
Cleopatra - yellow hull called Court Jester. Have you seen her ?
 
Re: Re Group tests - memory lane from 1973

All stock boats in those days, produced in greater volume per model than current breed (so more available) with a lot less gear aboard and the dealers/builders/eventual customers didn't worry about the engine hours.

Funny to report that our first boat test policy on MBM back in 1987 allowed us to test up to three boats at the same time with a collective value of £300,000...and that seemed v generous apart from the occasional Halmatic Azure or Fairline 50 outing.

Just to put us collectively under even more pressure here, the testers also used to regularly check out the bunks by sleeping on them overnight (no heaters, no wonder they always were pictured in five layers of clothing with woolly hats) and got to use the galley and toilet facilities in earnest too.

It was, after all, not long into the evolution of the motorboat as we know it today and not so many folk were convinced. These days quite a few motorboats still have unused galleys after three years of ownership, not that I intend that as any excuse, just a wry observation.

It's v different now but you are right to challenge and I in turn find myself in the delightful position of saying its up to the two guys in the hotseats here, along with their respective technical editors, to respond. Going home now :-)

ps I suppose one way would be to see if we could get a collective of fresh owners together. That would buy the time, provided they had the inclination. Would we find them all in one area, at the same time?



kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top