How do I cancel my PBO (part 2)

Jcorstorphine

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Sarah,

I have to take my hat off to the editorial team of PBO for taking such a brave stance on my previous posting by placing a link in the main web page which takes readers direct to the series of posting. In many ways my original posting was extremely negative and did nothing to highlight what I felt was lacking in the magazine content. The reason for this was that I could not post my entire text as the system would not accept a “pasted” Word copy into the text area. As a veteran PBO reader of 35 years it would be a shame to stop buying PBO, however as I said, I do feel that the magazine has lost its way and perhaps the editorial team might consider the following with the obvious words of caution. I am at the extreme end of the Boat Owning fraternity, i.e. the “practical boat owner” that does absolutely everything himself and perhaps not the average reader.

Being a life long “D I Y boat owner” and not just an “internet junkie” I having converted lifeboats, laid canvas decks, built masts, modified the interior of a 4 ton sloop, marinised a BMC 1.5 and a Ford XLD 1.6, reconditioned a VolvoMD2B, built a motor sailor from a bare hull, upgraded a 1979 Westerly Pentland by fitting Furling gear, new electronics, anchor winch and so on. I have therefor always found articles in PBO by other peoples on these activities interesting and have often been given the inspiration to tackle various tasks. However as for a report on a £60,000 German yacht, what’s the point, its outside my price range!

What about more reports on British Boatbuilding classics such as the Laurent Giles Westerly range, what to look for, weakness such as the Centaurs bilge keels. Don’t forget about power boats such as the Huntress, Huntsman and Dell Quay Rangers. There are also articles in the WEB such as the Freeman, Westerly and Moody Owners association, all of which could provide the basis for articles.

In the late 60, 70s and 80s, the emphasis in PBO was on “practical activities like completing fibreglass hulls from scratch with excellent articles by George Taylor and the like. Although the number of companies offering Hulls has diminished which in itself is must be a barometers of the boating market place, there is now a multitude of ageing fibreglass boats on the market, what about some articles on the renovation of these old timers. How about engine rebuilds, even rebuilding a Blake toilet, Bilge pumps and all of the other equipment we have to maintain.



John C.
 
John,

As you might imagine at this time of the year with holidays and a looming boat show our various forces are all over the place.

However, I have now corresponded with Sarah. Pretty much as I stated her message is 'give us a chance.' As I suspected much of what is appearing in current issues is the last of the material commissioned under the previous editor - that is not to shift blame or try and make excuses, just a plain and simple fact.

To counter some of the harsh criticicisms it is also factual that Sarah increased Yachting Monthly's circulation during her tenure there and it is likely without too much checking that she does a lot more sailing that Rodger managed, certainly in the time that I knew him. I'm not on an anti Rodger thing - I personally regret not having spent more time working with him in Poole. But any suggestion that the change in editor means a switch from sailing editor to a deskbound one is absolutely wrong.

Anyhow, many thanks for your comments - I can assure you they are being read.

kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com
 
PBO/YM

May I add my little bit as an outsider looking in? I live in Italy and before buying a boat occasionally purchased PBO or YM as and when I happened to pass the single kiosk in town offering either at the right time of the month. Frankly, I didn't much care which; I simply wanted to 'ooh' and 'aah'. Now, I have a boat (oldish, much scope for diy tinkering), I must say that I would expect (having no pre-conceptions about either title) YM to offer boat reviews, news about meets, races, blue-water cruising, performance tips and so forth, and PBO to offer the diy stuff. The very word 'practical' suggests getting your hands grubby doing things, whether fixing, upgrading or sailing. I would expect reviews to be hard-headed comparitive ones of equipment (ideally as in 'Which'), rather than of vessels (unless extent is not an issue!). Certainly, I would not wish the two mags to overlap. If I knew PBO were regularly to offer practical advice, then I would subscribe. After all, I'm at the beginning of the learning curve, and what's more I'm learning all the vocab in English and Italian! As it is, I am actually learning far more by picking fellow sailors' brains (virtually) on this forum.
Well, best wishes to all for 2003
 
I'm not sure that, from the point of view of circulation, that re-instating the "Practical" in PBO would be a good idea.

Sailing Today competes with both YM and PBO by offering a broader spread of coverage than either, but in less depth. I could believe that this would impact the circulation of both YM and PBO by stealing readers that prefer this approach.

It looks as though YM and PBO are trying to counter this by broadening their own coverage. Although this may win readers back from ST, it runs the risk of losing readers who really want the detail. But, such readers can't go anywhere else, so they will probably continue buying PBO, while quietly muttering to themselves about the way things used to be.

So, as far as selling magazines goes, I suspect that the publishers may be doing the right thing already. I personally like more practical articles, plus a smattering of other stuff. So my obvious choice, if the magazines stuck to their areas, would be PBO, plus maybe ST. However, at present, because the magazines have so much overlap, I buy all three. (Until I get fed up, and stop buying any of them ;-)

Richard
 
balance

i too am a 'practical' boat owner, having built several from scratch. i wouldn't expect articles on self-build all the time but i did find detailed descriptions of making a cup holder from ply offcuts a bit tedious.
realistically, judging by the for sale ads, pbo is the mag for the 'budget' end of the market and needs to cover the interests of that market sector. diy is one way of keeping the costs within reason but there are many other topics of interest to 'our' end of the market. the great thing about pbo for me has been an escape from endless reviews of identical french products at prices way out of my reach.
 
Re: balance

My wife and I probably represent two extremes of the boat magazine readership - OK, maybe not quite "extremes" as I read PBO and she reads YM. I suppose if we really were "extremes" she'd read Yachting World - but then, she probably wouldn't be my wife either!

Anyway, she likes YM because she feels it has more stories about "people" and "adventure" and "dream yachts" etc and I like PBO because I'm the sort of person who would happily keep all the anti-fouling scrapings each season in the hope of grinding them up, adding some more biocide and solvents and re-applying them the following year!

My point? Well, I'm not sure there is one really - other than perhaps you can't please all the people all the time. Given that we buy two magazines anyway, perhaps it would be as well to keep the content of each separate. In recent years I have felt the boundary has become less well defined. Naturally, If I were to cast my vote, I'd want more "practical" stuff about making useful things out of re-cycled junk!

Incidentally though, I'll happily read hers but she rarely reads mine.
 
Re: PBO/YM

Hi, Metabarca,
I was impressed by your post because it could well have been underwritten by me.
I also used to buy occasionally PBO (mostly in airport kiosks outside Italy; I wonder where you could find it in a place you “happened to pass”). The oldest copy I have is from 1982. I used to be delighted with its practical approach, especially in comparison with some other more easily available boating magazine.
My story as a PBO reader changed course when, for my last birthday, my sons gifted me with a subscription to PBO.
“As an outsider” as I am, I am not in the position of judging if the magazine changed so much. It would be very disappointing to me if it did just now, when I can read all the issues.
Anyway, I hope that the strong debate started in this forum will give the Editor matter to think about.
A happy 2003 to everybody,
Sandro


sandropicchio@tiscali.it
 
Assurance

The original thread started because some readers felt that the January issue was light on technical content. The new editor Sarah, who was running with an issue largely planned before she arrived in the job, acknowledges that and has confirmed to me it will not be the norm.

Meantime, it was nice to hear from Italy. Both sets of comments appreciated.

kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com
 
Re: PBO/YM

Sandro,
In answer to your query: Trieste, Stazione Centrale. But then, Trieste is a pretty yottie town! We also get US, French and German boating mags here (and Slovene, of course).
Buon vento!
 
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