How do you view MBY boat tests?

[[2068]]

Handling is subjective: what someone calls "safe and predictable" could also be "boring", so just tell it the way it is, and leave people to choose.

BUT: It's the obvious things that some tests gloss over, the things that hit you in the face when you actually look over a boat at the boat show or at the showroom.

e.g. - the new Bene Montecarlo: it's as dark as a crypt in the saloon with those tiny windows, but I bet that gets brushed over in the test.

dv.

 

[ari]

[ QUOTE ]
I

The bottom line is that when David Marsh reviews a boat he does it far more thoroughly and with far greater objectivity than any car reviewer I have ever worked with. The fact that he tends to use less effusive language and less subjective comment either to praise or criticise a boat does not make it any less valid. This may occasionally mean it is less entertaining or opinionated than a comparable car review from TG, Car or Autocar but it will be every bit as truthful and arguably more accurate.



[/ QUOTE ]

Oh come on...!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Your tongue must have been so far in your cheek writing that that you need it surgically removed!! You don't criticise boats full stop!

Even your own contributors admit that!

If it's a shed then either the builder won't make one available for testing or the magazine will politely decline to test it. I was recently on a big sportsboat that was shockingly bad, and it would have been very easy (and a lot of fun) to rip it to shreds in print, but we decided just to ignore it.

Great help to your readers and potential customers of that boat that kind of non advice is.

 

[Gludy]

Ari
Do you think you have any right to even have a go like that when you yourself refuse to answer direct questions about your connections with the boating industry?

You seem to be arguing for openness and candour with test results so is there any chance we can have the same with your bio?

 

[masaccio]

Aaaaargh! I am NOT a contributor to MBY, I was talking about non-IPC titles I freelance for where the policy is to ignore the dross and concentrate on the good stuff (why fill a magazine with sh*t stuff when you can fill it with good stuff?).

 

[Hugo_Andreae]

Ari,

That quote doesn't come from one of our contributors.

 

[tcm]

dark as a crypt

aha! i used to feel the same way,and had a nice fairline with decent windows and skylights to make it all nice and bright.

Then I took it to the med. Jeez! Every morning -ping- it's time to get up at blimminek ...5am ...cos that's when the sun streams through. Cue numerous experiments with towels or bitsw of wood over the skylights, cos the blackout blinds are quite good but not 100%.

These days i have an eyetie boat which also dark as a crypt in winter or in the uk, and no overhead skylight thing cos they fry you in the med. But with storm covers over the portholes I can sleep in pitch black till 10 am... so i ask the kids to march about at 9.30 to get up at a reasonable time....But in belting med sun the airco is all on to keep it cold inside and it is quite bright enough, or "normal" in the summer sun.

So he can't even slag the "dark as a crypt" off? Cos it won't be dark in the med. It'll be cool and it may have no airco.

The more people and more boats you see, the les you are able to slag off the thing - or indeed praise it to the heavens - because so many features are so subjective.

The only non-subjective stuff is the performance data - it does so many mpg and costs £xxx length Lmetres etc. But far more time is spent on board and i know plenty of people with house having extremely rubbish insulation...cepttheir house is lovely and finefor 2 weeks hol cos of other factors. Some of them the same factors that raggies fling around in terms of range - unimportant to the stinkpotter.

Some see qiuck floggabilty as an issue, others it's handling, price, mpg, maintenance issues, crew accomodation, charter potential and and a hundred othr things. Like decisions on where to go, i think mags do a dcecent enough job at simply showing the options at various budgets - you decide.

 

[[2068]]

Re: dark as a crypt

Okay, poor example.

How about the incredibly wide sink on the Sealine S23/S25, combined with the positioning of the companionway hatch, which means that 80% of people end up putting their left foot into the sink as they step below. Compulsory footwash for med boaters before going below? And what about their right foot? I suspect that there's a lot of S23/S25 owners out there with smelly right feet, and the public have a right to know.

dv.

 

[ari]

Oh Gludy you do go on, bless you! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Just and especially for you I've filled in my profile. Fill your boots. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[ari]

[ QUOTE ]
Ari,

That quote doesn't come from one of our contributors.

[/ QUOTE ]

I apologise. However I believe it comes from an ex contributer (correct me if I'm wrong)?

I do hope you don't put me down as a conspiracy theorist Hugo (I'm not, we have Gludy on the forum for that) but as an avid reader of both MBY and Car Magazine and Evo the boat reviews really are a bit of a joke.

Good or bad, both Car and Evo give you a genuine sense of what the car is actually about, how it feels, how it compares, and above all whether it is any good or not. Boat mags (not just yours) simply do not do that!

As has been said above there has only been one really good honest "warts and all" boat test in living memory in MBY and that was the famous Sealine one. I really hoped you'd finally turned the corner with that one. But alas not.

I find it really disappointing that there simply is no honest fair medium for the boating public, be they interested parties or consumers, to get fair genuine unbiased opinion. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[benjenbav]

[ QUOTE ]
I find it really disappointing that there simply is no honest fair medium for the boating public, be they interested parties or consumers, to get fair genuine unbiased opinion.

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OK, OK due to popular demand I may just continue the benjenbavTM review series...Watch this space...and all you manufacturers...be very afraid /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Hurricane]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh Gludy you do go on, bless you!

Just and especially for you I've filled in my profile. Fill your boots.

[/ QUOTE ] He hasnt answered the question - go for him Gludy

 

[oceanfroggie]

[ QUOTE ]
Well, I think the survey results say it all. MBM/MBY boat tests are nothing of the sort. Basically, they are coffee table type advertorials designed not to offend the advertisers and not in any way comparable to the no punches pulled road tests published by the serious car magazines. As has been said before, specialist magazines have neither the circulation nor the range of advertisers to be able to afford to offend one or other

[/ QUOTE ]Deleted User You've hit the nail of the head. They are constrained and hence too scared to a) nail their colours to the mast, b) tell the truth about the boats, and c) say anything negative. Agree these reports are total rubbish. There are some excellent US boatey mags that do genuinely test gear and equipment and they tell it as it is, and don't mince their words. On that you can buy gear with more confidence.

 

[Gludy]

No he has not answered the question and has avoided answering at every turn.
This seems strange on a thread that he started about open. honest unbiased boat reviews.
I can only conclude that he is connected with the trade and therefore everything he states has to be viewed with a possible commercial angle in mind.
As long as we all remember that Ari will not answer the question thats Ok with me.

Come to think of it I am pretty experienced with folks not answering questions - they were alo in the Trade ........ now given that Ari has put me down as a conspiracy theory buff .... could it be that Ari is secretly connected with those same people who would not answer me ? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

He is probably the Scandanavian dealer for them but too ashamed to admit it.

 

[tcm]

Re: dark as a crypt

ok fair enough, he might have a go at more sealines. BUT other than that, what else have the romans er...

 

[Divemaster1]

Missing the "On Deck" details ....

How easy is it to move around on deck, sides, bow, stern etc. with ropes, fenders and stuff when / if slippy.... Width of side decks etc... Can two people pass each ogther on side deck of this 50 ft thingie without one climbing onto the slippy coachroof etc.... Can I stand on foredeck and handle the lines or do I need to stand with one foot against winch and other on raised coachroof (which provides excellent interior space by the way)... Can two people be on the bow at same time without bumping into each other ... one with rope, other carrying a 600mm round fender (or two)??

Take the new SC38 .... "they have increased the size and quality of fittings, such as cleats ...." Yup... increased, but can you practically use the spring cleats when onboard the boat, or do you have to go ashore to fix the ropes as you cannot possibly bend down (unless you are a size 6 - 8 ) on that narrow side deck between the superstructure and good solid SS railing. How about the foredeck ... nicely teak laid with beautiful withe gloss slippery frames around just whre you'd put your feet as you are about to haul that wet line in. Having to go down onto the swim platform, to get back onto the sidedecks to move forwards may be a tad inconveininent as well..... May be i't just me getting old and grumpy, but none of these things are mentioned in the test ...... but I am "unlikely to be disappointed" if I buy one and intend to use it for cruising...

 

[jcmmarine]

Never bought a new boat but always consulted past MBM reports on boats bought 2nd hand.

Frequently I have found their dimensions to be wrong. Not so bad when you just argue with marina staff on charges, but when you cannot get under a bridge?

If they cannot get basic dimensions right!!!

 

[ShipsWoofy]

[ QUOTE ]
PBO gets a bunch of ordinary sailing people together from time to time to test ordinary kit such as pumps, binos, etc.

What if MBM took along some experienced mobo owners, and allowed them to comment (anonymously ?) in the article.

I volunteer /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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yes..ish, normally a bunch of techno-knocky-kneed farts who hate anything more modern than a lead with tallow. It is all very well, knowing a couple from Dorset who can't set their video at home do not like the latest plotters, but they are not therefore the ones who will be buying, so give us the end user no help whatsoever. And yes, this seems to be the normal outcome of the PBO übertests.

but normally PBO's hard hitting reviews consist of a copy and paste from the sales advert. Absolute waste of time.

To see how kit reviews should be done, see Sailing Today.

IPC is vanilla and in many cases not supporting it's readership by allowing them to buy duff gear, how can I say that, cos it's true.

Last months ST tested multi-tools, even in one test they left them in a bucket of seawater for a few days to see any corrosion, brilliant and on the ball. I would be totally amazed if IPC towers ever see the gear they review or if they open the packet and incur charges or something.

Yes pretty damning, but I will be leaving the forum as soon as PBO allow me to cancel. The IPC mags have become nothing more than waiting room decoration.