which magazine?

ChattingLil

ChattingLil

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my subscription to Sailing Today is up for rewewal and I thought it worth asking - if you were to subscribe to one magazine which one would it be?

I've taken PBO on an ad hoc basis, but haven't subscribed. I have a sail boat not a motor boat!
 
I have to say that I think i've had my fill of sailing mags. I think Sailing Today's "kit bag test" last month was the final straw for me. It's a bl**dy bag for god's sake! Having said that I think that YM is probably the most useful/interesting and I usually ending up paying full price for it on Waterloo station when I have a boring train journey ahead of me!
 
I subscribe to YM.
I go through phases of thinking about changing to ST.
(PBO never seems to quite hit the mark these days.)
But then I see some of the "tests" padded out in ST and think YM better.
However, then I see some of the "Jellyellie" type stuff in YM and think sod it Playboy would give me better value for my money.
 
This ones been done already but I wanted to have my h'a'penny worth. I have been a reader of Yachting Monthly man and boy for getting on for 40 years and have just canceled my subscription. I wish I could loose weight like Yachting Monthly has over the last couple of years! I don't think it ever recovered after it lost Geoff Pack as editor. I actually thought that the most recent one was a bit better than some of late, but not so much that it made me review my decision to cancel. It seems to have become more about product placement than anything else, and the standard of a lot of the writing is dire. None of the others appeal. Sad. I used to look forward to it arriving but now it just irritates me. Mind you, most things irritate me these days so perhaps it's just Grumpy Old Man syndrome.
 
I really look forward to the magazines coming through the letter box. I don't know why - I'm nearly always disappointed.

And another thing.... Why does the "what's in next month's edition" bit look far more interesting than what's in the one I'm reading? /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
None of them. I got sick of buying adverts every month. Now I just download the Furled sails podcast every month
 
Watercraft. Partly because it has a building series on the boat that I am (slowly) building. And in general covers the types that interest me. And no articles/thinly disguised adverts. I used to enjoy PBO when it meant what it said in the title, long gone.
A
 
I subscribed to Sailing Today a couple of years ago, when it was a really good deal. After a year I didn't re-subscribe because I thought it had got a bit boring when John Goode stepped down. But I renewed recently at £20 for a year and I think that's peanuts for a bit of sailing fix. YM is o.k. too. I don't own my own boat so PBO isn't for me though I occasionally buy it in the shop. I like reviews of personal equipment, and general stories. I'm usually uninterested with articles on how to fit an electrical doodad, simply because I sail on other people's boats. I'm happy to read boat reviews because I sometimes charter.

In the end it depends on what sort of sailing you do and on what. Grumpy old men are best not reading anything.
 
Thanks for that. I've been sailing (other people's boats and charters) for a few years and on and off, but have owned my own boat for less than a year.

One of my old sailing chums who has collected the mags over the years say that after about 4 years, the information tends to repeat itself.

I have found some really useful tips over the past six months - I was particularly interested in the mob recovery methods in a recent mag. And I very much appreciate tips on fitting electrical doodads!

Various kit and gear reviews have been helpful as we make decisions about new stuff. I'm even finding the adverts useful!! :-) When you're new, there's a lot to learn and take in and it's often difficult to know where to start. (or whose opinion to listen to or - perhaps more important - whose to ignore!)

I've been pretty happy with Sailing Today, but just wondered if experience showed that another magazine would be better for a new year.
 
Here's a vote for PBO.
I like the little accounts of how people have made a danbuoy out of an old washing up bottle and a knitting needle ...
And "Learning from Experience " which is scarey.
But basically antything about boats that comes through the letterbox in the winter is most welcome.
 
Have to agree about Sailing Today .... the bag 'test' is about the bottom of the barrel!
They've also done a review of the marinas round the Solent for a couple of months .... not one price mentioned anywhere ... how useful is that? I've got a sub reminder here now ... I'm not going to renew.
 
Yachting Monthly every time for me. Lovin the confessional, true stories, advice (not that I read the advice that much - I don't own a boat just interfere on other people's!).

Also they have great features on Charter Holidays which, I'm sorry to say as it annoys most people on the forums, I love!

Happy Reading
 
Also agree about Sailing Today's test pages - last issue I bought was in the summer, had a half-page write-up of some bit of kit, which ended with "but we haven't actually tried it out yet, we'll let you know how we get on when we do".
 
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