RYA magazine

[Guest]

I have occasionally been known to criticise the IPC yottimags, but this time I'd like to ask anyone to give their views on the RYA magazine for members.

No, I wont give my view, at least not yet, but I'd be grateful for any fair comment.

William Cooper

 

[iangrant]

Er not sure I'd buy it off the shelf! As for bedtime reading, I woke up with it over my face!

Ian

 

[Gerry]

Very boring. Certainly wouldn't buy it off the shelf. The kids sometimes pick up useful info on dinghy sailing but thats all-certainly nobody fights to get hold of it in this hosehold!

 

[PhatBuoy]

Its free and the old phrase 'you get what you pay for' springs to mind. Bill, I know you have a (psychotic) tendancy to slag anything glossy that pertains to your favourite past time but even you can't bad mouth the RYA's efforts. Can you???

 

[AndrewB]

Good enough.

Well, a bit dull and worthy I suppose. I agree I wouldn't buy it, but its not a yottie mag, and would be foolish to pretend.

I don't belong to the RYA, the RNLI, the RAC for their newsletters, any more than I'm a Glaxo shareholder for the sake of their Annual Report. These things are partly a courtesy guesture, partly a means of telling you what the organisation is up to, and partly to assure you that your money is being well-spent or well-invested .... or not as the case may be. From that standpoint their newsletter appears reasonably informative, but like all these things the reality may not entirely match the public image.

 

[Guest]

Re: on your face

I'll try that, it's better than reading it. Although I'm sure it's illegal in some American States.

 

[Guest]

This was discussed in some depth a few weeks ago - personally I find it unchallenging. On retrospect, I have realised that I hadn't realised that the RYA had broadened its remit to include ALL boaters (PWC's, windsurfers etc.) and I think that the magazine suffers as a result. It is so broad it fails to capture the issues for any single group. I am sure the PWC owners wonder whart all the discussion about flags is about!

 

[Guest]

I find it a very dull read, but perhaps that is inevitable when it tries to cover every form water use. It rates alongside the AA magazine for incisive, up-to-date articles.

Nick F

 

[JohnR]

Trouble is its not free but it seems to be all one gets for a subscription to the RYA

 

[MedMan]

I took two issues out with me when I flew back out to Malta this time last year. I had several abortive attempts to read them during the season but put them back on the pile each time. I did eventually manage to read them cover to cover when I had completely run out of all other reading matter. It was a strain.

David

 

[Jeremy_W]

Salami slicing

It spreads itself so thinly that nothing is covered properl. IPC has three big glossy monthlies with overlapping areas of interest to cover just yachting. Even then they miss out the mad keen club racer/dinghy sailor (catered for by Yachts & Yachting) among other areas. So what chance has the RYA with a small, infrequent mag to cover all areas?

 

[zefender]

Re: Salami slicing

Yep, RYA now has a broad remit (of its own making of course). But it also has over 90,000 members. Its magazine is well supported by advertising ( as it should be) so I'd be amazed if it wasn't an entirely profitable publishing venture. So let's not see it as a member benefit. I think it has now reached the size when a bit of salami does need to be sliced.

OK, maybe every member does need a sort of 'parish notes' section about general RYA news. But if the membership were divided into, say four sections, each one could have material which is relevent to their interest in a 'targeted' publication. They would still be mags with around 20,000 readers and thus, probably still profitable. The difference would be that there would be more relevent material, delivered in a style that is maybe appropriate to the interest.

I'm not sure that the image of the RYA makes it a very credible voice for sports such as windsurfing. It reminds me a bit of older people saying 'wicked, man' and clicking their fingers in the air, feigning interest in the music of 'So Solid Crew'. They are trying to be more 'accessible' to young people - they're actually just making fools of themselves. They'd be better off recruiting some 16 year olds as writers for the dinghy, windsurfing and possibly PWC interests. But that doesn't mean sail boat members are boring old farts, needing turgid copy, looking increasingly like Saga magazine (not that I qualify for that yet!)

 

[claymore]

Agreeing with all that has gone before - I found this a very dull tome. Humperdinck had run a thread a short time before my mag came in the post and I found myself agreeing with some of his criticisms.
It doesn't seem to progress really in that its very "samey."
regards
John S

 

[Chris_Stannard]

Agrre with you all, I ususually file WPB on receipt, it keeps the clutter down.

Has anyone told the RYA or do we think they read our thoughts

Chris Stannard

 

[alant]

Hands up how many of you 'honest' people can get 100% every time in their quiz?

 

[claymore]

Re: Salami slicing

I think your final paragraph is excellent - the differing cultures of the various watersports form a very broad spectrum and it is hard for the RYA to cover all equally. The Old Farts - with apologies to Will Carling, do seem more comfortable with the Cowes/Traditional image, which is a considerable way from the Windsurfing image. The problem with employing young people to write copy is similar to the one my Yacht Club faces each time it thinks it would be good to get young people involved in the management committees, they are generally too busy out there participating and the prospect of involvement in management doesn't really engage them.

 

[ParaHandy]

Re: Salami slicing

I understand that many of the 90,000 members are "corporates". The actual individual membership may be much lower. If they do train, as claimed, 130,000 people each year then why does that not create a (rapidly) growing membership? They do not make participating in their training conditional upon being a member.

I think that a boat tax is coming - possibly £300 - and without sufficient membership numbers, the RYA will have little influence opposing it. When you read commentary on meetings with other bodies (particularly those with regulatory authority eg MCA, Harbour Masters), the RYA are described as unrepresentative. In other words, they are the only ones who think that they are the "governing voice/body etc of sailing" and I wonder if that delusion colours their judgement. The mag is surely critical to getting new membership and, to give them credit, it has improved but the core seems to be solidly anchored around the Sir Bufton Tuftons at Cowes and it can't quite span the different age groups it needs to.

(ps re Saga: Don't invite them to quote for boat insurance unless you're prepared to be innundated with unwanted post eg Saga Zimmerframe bus tours!)

 

[zefender]

Re: Salami slicing

The RYA website talks about 7million people in the UK having an interest in boats - so 90,000 is some way off representation! FAQs still have too many questions about flag etiquette and nothing about 'why should I take up boating?'

Agreed about training opportunity. Also agreed that the mag is much better than it was.

Saga zimmerframes - now that could be useful as material for my planned bimini of course!

 

[DoctorD]

There is a lot of comment in the many replies this post has generated. The RYA may be "unrepresentative" and its magazine maybe not very readable and trying to cover the whole gamut of watersports in its small size is virtually impossible, but personally the best way to change the RYA is to join it and try to make one's voice herd above the Adm Buffy Frobisher (retd) mob (who are now I think in the minority in any case).

Along with some of the more responsible sailing and yacht clubs (who are usually RYA affiliated anyway) the RYA does provide pretty good representation and tries to hold back the Nanny State.

But to get back to your original point - the mag is pretty dire (but so is the RNLI mag - even though that is full of real heroics from that fine organisation).

 

[Guest]

Time to honour the \'Not yet\'

I am not in any way against the RYA as such. I joined in 1948 (it was the YRA in thise days) and though I have resigned a couple of times in protest about something, there are few who have given long-term support like that, so my credentials are OK

This thread is not to knock the RYA. Just now we need them because many of the pleasures of yachting, however you define it, are threatened.

But I think I am in with a big majority in saying the mag is weak, and it should not be because it is virtually the only contact between the rather complacent salaried staff and the members.

It is weak in content and weak in its detailed input concerning my interests (obviously I cannot speak for surfers and jetskiers). I have a feeling that it should have a broad spectrum news section and that each member could opt for an inner section from the appropriate branch of the RYA detailing dvelopments that concern him (or her). It isn't meant to be a general interest mag, but sometimes its layout is of that type.

And far too much of its material is very badly written with ambiguities and clichés everywhere. Bad English is difficult to read. We all write it from time to time, but it should be put right in editing.

William Cooper