Mo boat monthly

[Margem]

Is it just me, or has mo boat montly become a litle bit of a boring read?
Realise this topic might be outlawed but whats gone wrong, old articles come round again even previous pictures used.
Mundane subjects etc. :confused new boat specs published every month do we need this.
I would like to see more problem and answer sections and a new boat test now and again where the subect boat is not for once the best thing ever to hit water!
Im thinking of not bothering with it, fellow readers at my marina certainly agree.

 

[steverow]

I would agree on the whole, although some content is OK.
I would like to see the boat listings dropped and the pages used for something more useful, even if thats just adverts, it would at least be more interesting.
Regurgitating old material is not just confined to the boating press.
It tends to hapen in most leisure pursuits that are largely seasonal.
Take your average caravan or motorhome magazine and you will find that they run much the same sort of stuff at the same time of year, year on year.
It actually must be quite difficult to source new items for hobbies that dont really change that much.
I would like to see an increased practical bias as well, doing for mobo's what PBO does for raggies.
To my mind the best of the mags is PBO which although heavily biased toward sailing boats is still the best read.
Maybe MBM is due for a makeover. Probably just needs a freshen up.
I think one of the problems may be that it has to cater for both inland and seagoing boaters, and the river people tend to be more conservative.
Striking the balance may be the issue here.

Steve.

 

[BrendanS]

Not convinced that PBO is that oriented to raggies. Our club night exercise featured there recently, Jake Cavanagh in on the team, and was at least in part responsible for PBO buying a rib based in Poole, and as a result Jake turned up at a forum meet there. Quite a few motor boat articles there recently, and many articles are aimed at both sides of the camp, not just raggie

 

[steverow]

You do have a point in that some of the stuff that they carry is general, electronics, diesel maintenance etc, but by and large there are are far more articles for sailboats. Most of the reviews they do are for sailboats, and you'll find it very hard to find any adverts in the for sale section for motorboats. The vast majority of readers tips are usually to do with rigging or sailboat deck related stuff.
I'm not knocking it, it serves it's market very well and is usually a good read.
I just wish that MBM was a little more like it, although I do detect a slight change there in recent issues with a few more practical aricles feeding through.
Although PBO says on the front cover sail and power, it's hardly 50/50.
Probably it reflects the make up of the UK boating scene.

Steve.

 

[BrendanS]

My feeling generally, is that there is no one magazine that can fulfill all camps. Hence my direct debits with 4 of them, but maybe I'm a bit more rounded in my requrements than most?

 

[Solitaire]

I have to agree with you. I changed my sub from MBM to PBO this year for the same reason. Got my last MBM this month and frankly I won't miss nexts! Although I will take a sneak preview in the newsagents as a certain person I know may have something to say /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

PBO

Your joking are'nt you! True, since Jake arrived there is the occasional nod in the direction of powerboating but PBO is fundamentally for the yottie crowd. Even then, there is an insidious but obvious bias against powerboating in that, when there is an article and thats not every month by any means, its always an instructional one rather than an experience one. Its quite clear that they think we motorboaters require guidance in the basics whereas yotties dont. Patronising, I'd call it
I am a PBO subscriber but I certainly would'nt ditch MBM in favour of PBO

 

[DepSol]

I thought the last MBM was quite good it was what I wanted to see in a mag but each to their own.

This months PBO is very good and I certainly enjoy that these days. Lots of comeptitions and loads of small snippet articles as well as bigger ones.

Dom

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Credit to MBM for the red diesel campaign and for their continuing support f cruises in company but I do agree that MBM has always been thinner on editorial than MBY. It always seems to take longer to read MBY whereas, as you say, some MBM articles you just tend to skip through. For a few years, their boat tests were very good especially when they used to include a fantastic cutaway drawing of the boat's layout (why dont we get that now, Hugo?)
My guess is that their advertising revenue is less than MBY so their operating budget is less

 

[Planty]

Have to agree with you on both MBY and MBM, get quite excited when they drop through the door, flick through them now in the first few hours then ditch in the rack until next months arrives.

Bought PBO for first time last month, seemed to enjoy the read for a number of sittings and felt reminiscent of former MBM and MBY experience. Or is it just familiarity???

 

[markc]

I agree - I didn't renew my sub this month - been subscribing for 7 years. Will stick with MBY though - still a good read to me

M

 

[whisper]

Entertaining isn't it, how we all vary. I was getting fed up with MBM last year but think that the last few editions have been a considerable improvement.