Motorboat and Yachting magazine

[volvopaul]

I agree Mike , I bought this months at Luton as I’m on holiday in the Italian Lakes .
I had a glance at it yesterday while on the sun bed and you’re quite right it’s full of nothing that relates to the majority anymore, I’m glad I don’t pay for an annual subscription.

 

[oldgit]

Out soon a publication for those aspiring to sub orbital flight.
First edition .............A comparo of Virgin Galactic vs Space X would be good start !

 

[nicho]

I agree Mike , I bought this months at Luton as I’m on holiday in the Italian Lakes .
I had a glance at it yesterday while on the sun bed and you’re quite right it’s full of nothing that relates to the majority anymore, I’m glad I don’t pay for an annual subscription.

Going to fix a few engines while they’re Paul? Have a great time - Prezzo’s PS awaits!

 

[EricJ]

I agree that some of the content is quite aspirational but comparing with other boating magazines I think MBY still does a decent job in terms of tests, second hand review (the detailed reviews, not “Find me a…”) and cruise reports. Especially the cruise reports I enjoy a lot. What I miss from the past are the (more detailed) technical topics. Even those owning million plus boats regularly have to bring out the toolbox. Of course you can outsource a lot but it is a lot more pleasant if you have some understanding how systems work.
The motor boat owner digital magazine covered a lot of that. A bit too much DIY for my taste but it was complementing MBY nicely in that sense. Sadly MBO stopped.

 

[Parabolica]

So many monthly lifestyle publications go down this same route. If I look at my car interests I first read Performance Car which was then usurped by the mass exodus of [really good] writers and EVO then emerging [with those same writers]. That had me hooked for years with it's mixture of road tests on every type of performance orientated car offering both inexpensive and very expensive options with the quest to find the EVOness within each if indeed it was there. On another forum I frequent we even used to talk about the magazine as it arrived each month to discuss our thoughts on the various tests conducted. Soon after I started subscribing to Octane which to me was the quintessential lifestyle magazine as it had fantastic articles on new cars, old cars, performance cars, family cars, watches, boats, gents outfitters and everything in between. I stopped Reading EVO when the core team who started it had left and I realised that I was already re-reading the same road test with each new article but just with the relevant car name inserted differently each time as no doubt the new owners of the magazine had cut the budget to actually test the cars properly or tell the truth if so and so car was a dog potentially, without caring if the OEM would be upset or not.

I sadly also stopped my Octane subscription last year, having bought all issues since #3 (still have them all), because it too became predictable with nothing to interest me any longer. This was very sad as it was the one magazine that I would always look forward to its arrival each month, then drop everything when it did arrive and hastily flick through the magazine to garner my interest. And then through the course of the following month, I would read without fail each and every article. study the classifieds and show interest to the many and varied advertisements to the point that I was fully satiated by the time I had but less than a week for the next issue to arrive again. I'd say it was a year of dissatisfaction before I finally cancelled the subscription and I've not missed it once since.

Back on the subject of Boat magazines, I used to read MB&Y & Motor Boat Monthly, monthly, but they also turned in a similar way with little to capture my interest as its always the same boat test with every boat always coming out as pretty fantastic and with little or no complaints. I bet owners will tell you of many issues with these craft after they've managed to sell them ! So I ended up only buying these magazines whenever I boarded a plane for a holiday and now I don't even buy them at all, I just take a cursory flick through whilst stood in WH Smith awaiting my flight thinking, umm, not much in this month again. They're also painfully thin these days showing a complete lack of interesting content in my view. I suppose the above is a self fulfilling prophecy in that when content quality wains, so does readership and then so does revenue and so content quality wains further and so on and so forth until the circle is complete and the publication dissapears.

So much more could be done I'm sure but I assume the digital content that we all choose to fill our spare time with has done for these publications all the same now days, along with many of them selling out as independants at just the right time, to the big publication houses just as the proverbial wheels fell off the sector whilst at its peak. But then to come back, they'd need to once again be owned by true enthusiasts, for example Harry Metcalfe when he founded and built up EVO.

I'm not sure if that will ever happen again.

 

[roa312]

I think media platforms such as YouTube have taken a significant portion of viewership away from traditional magazines, slowly displacing them over time. You can find channels for almost everything: boat reviews, ocean crossings, local trips, boat construction, engine rebuilds, and more. Most magazine companies now have their own YouTube channels, and in my view, they are struggling to keep up with independent channels in terms of content quality. This is quite remarkable when you compare the cost base of someone like Nick Burnham (Aquaholic) to that of MBY, for instance. In my humble opinion, a decade or two from now, I don't believe there will be any major written publications left, at least not in their current form.

 

[roa312]

So much more could be done I'm sure but I assume the digital content that we all choose to fill our spare time with has done for these publications all the same now days, along with many of them selling out as independants at just the right time, to the big publication houses just as the proverbial wheels fell off the sector whilst at its peak. But then to come back, they'd need to once again be owned by true enthusiasts, for example Harry Metcalfe when he founded and built up EVO.

The thing is, Harry Metcalfe continues to publish a lot of content, but now on his YouTube channels (Harry's Garage and Harry's Farm). So the content is still there, but now in improved video format and entirely free. EVO journalist Chris Harris also established a highly popular YouTube channel where he used to publish independent car reviews. I understand that his success on EVO and YouTube was essentially what secured him the hosting position on the new Top Gear.

 

[Montemar]

I enjoy All At Sea. Not because its free but because its about sailing ️

 

[Scapegoat]

If you have a subscription to Readly and a decent size iPad, MBY is included plus a host of other boating magazines and loads of other magazines and newspapers too. Great value.

 

[piratos]

Everytime renewing of the magazine comes up I consider to stop subscription, but then I might miss something....
I really want a papermagazine, and not just a website to read, and I am sure that many of the "old" subscribers maintain their subscription for the same reason. When I consider to stop the supscription its simply because there is not enough in each magazine that really is of interest to me. First thing to do when I receive the magazine is briefly to view what this months bring... just to find out there is only little. If the magazine shal have a future I honestly beleive they should reconsider the concept. Its nice to have something in the magazine to dream about but there is not enough other stuff. On the other hand - at a distance the usual 3 british builders boats all look like a Galion. Days are long gone when you at a distance could see whether its a Princess of Fairline. This ofcourse doesnt make it easier for the magazine if there isnt much to show.....