Whats happened to PBO???

[Parashandy]

Rick, it it would be untrue to say that the editorial was offensive. Initially I said that I felt it was not in the spirit of Maurice Griffiths, and that after reading that editorial I felt I could no longer identify with YM.

It comes down to what Clyst was saying. Those with plenty and those with less than plenty.

The editorial in question identified totally with those with marina berths. Some of us have them; some of us don't. Some of us wouln't have them at any price.

I have a 27ft sailing cruiser worth about £14k top wack, start of season. I don't want to read a magazine for 28 years and then feel that suddenly it no longer caters for me as a reader. Was I offended? Yes: you probably would not be.

As I said I have now returned to YM and find it as it always was. I do however understand the concerns of Clyst with regards to PBO.

Happy New Year!

 

[kimhollamby]

Spirit of the 1960s

I write as someone who still spends many happy hours browsing through the classic early Denny years of PBO (I have a friend with all the early editions on his shelf which means he sees little of me on visits). My interest is not only fired by the magazine - it is also fired by the very different marine industry we had in those days. That's a point that hasn't been made here but it isn't entirely fair to look how magazines change without also looking at how their audiences and subjects change too.

There are of course plenty of practical features and articles that can still be written but the cost of boats that are out there now is far wider in the early years of the 21st Century than it was in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Technology is also a lot more dominant.

I don't know how successful Haynes manuals are today; I am a fairly technically-inclined person for whom Haynes was the sole means of keeping my car on the road a few years back but I look under the bonnet now and draw the conclusion that Yellow Pages' garage section is a more appropriate tome to heft off the shelf. Boating is not that far down the alley yet but it does now encompass everything from the craft that have little more than a hull to yachts with more computing power than the Apollo space missions. Talking in general terms I think for that reason the demands on a typical boating magazine have been stretched like never before.

Getting back specifically to PBO, there is a new team coming together in Poole and for that reason I would thank everyone for the comments here - I'm sure the editor and her editorial staff will read them - but also suggest that changes will be inevitable as they get a chance to formulate plans. They will also all be at the boat show in London from the 2nd so if you are visiting I'm sure comments made on the stand would be welcome.



kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com

 

[clyst]

Re: Spirit of the 1960s

Kim , Thank you for your post which I read with great interest and must say that I agree with most of your comments. However, I think you have to agree that most editors have only the interest of "21st century"sailor in mind when compiling contents of their mags. It must be acknowleged that there is a huge proportion of PBO readership that are still practical sailors and who have a hunger for hands on information . May I be so bold as to suggest that a questionair is slipped in a future issue of PBO to determine whether there is a demand for these types of features as this subject has been debated many times on these forums and clearly indicate that as far as the forum users are concerned there is.
Going of the subject slightly , back in the 60/70s a fair portion of PBO also covered power craft whereas now it seems to cover only sail (not that Im complaining you understand!!) so why is it still called PBO giving the impression that it still is for general craft? Just courious.

Regards

Terry

 

[kimhollamby]

Re: Spirit of the 1960s

Terry, the holy grail of magazine publishing has been the thought of being able to harness all interests under one title. It seems it worked a little better in the days when GRP boats were just coming into play (for example Motor Boat & Yachting used to cover some sailing yachts and if you go back far enough most of our titles didn't have to focus on the niches they occupy today) but increasingly readers seem to demand publications that cover only their specific patch.

That can get quite absurd, in commercial terms at least. Over a decade or more on MBM we explored all sorts of subsets of our coverage, mostly in the form of supplements, and they were generally well received by the people that had that interest. It also helped to address the understandable feedback from readers that we never do enough of X, Y or Z. But to keep breaking down into smaller and smaller interest groups also dilutes the investment and hence the energy you can put into that area and often it starts to work against effective coverage. Big conundrum - because we also understand the huge enthusiasm that people have for the area they do their boating in and/or the specific type of boat that they use.

I'm not sure what Sarah proposes in terms of keeping a balance between sail and power. Although the majority of its readers are in the former camp, PBO does have motorboat readers as well and so it remains the only paid for title in the UK to encompass the many common interests of both camps. Hence I think the title remains of fair reflection of what is in the tin.

kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com

 

[seahorse]

Re: Whats happened to PBO???I agree!

I've finally decided to make some more space in my "den" by discarding old PBO's, after removing all the "useful bits". Even since the early 80's it's interesting how the content &style has changed. There were fewer adverts & much more printed articles in contrast to today's format of large photo's comparitivly little information & many more pages of adverts. Commercial pressures I suppose.

 

[clyst]

Re: Spirit of the 1960s

Fair comment Kim and Thanks for taking the time to reply. Its nice to know that you are approachable on such matters and are prepared to give your time to explain the whys and therefores .

Regards

Terry

 

[whisper]

Re: Spirit of the 1960s

Kim, I for one would be sad to see PBO stop its Motor Boat features as I have an interest in both camps. Furthermore the power-boat features in PBO seem to deal with smaller less expensive types rather than the full sized and mini gin palaces so beloved of MBY & to a slightly lesser extent MBM.
Good luck in your new location & thanks for keeping MBM generally interesting under under your stewardship.