Yottie mags are getting boring what do you want to read about?

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davidfox

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'All mags are now getting boring', what do you like to read about -
Likes
Learning from experience articles
New gear
Most letters
Seamanship articles.
Interesting cruises. (theres not many of those)

Dislikes
Marina handling articles
Excessive number of adverts
Chartering articles
Bits of paper and catalogues cascading out of mag upon opening
 
Interesting Cruises

Looking through my recently acquired boxes of back-numbers of YM (I've worked my way back as far as 1994), I was struck by the fact that there were more tales of cruises in the 90's editions. Usually two (sometimes more) per issue. One would be the "Learning from experience" type, the other would be a straightforward tale of a trip, maybe a little reflective, but mostly just full of the joys of sailing. Not necessarily far flung trips, but enjoyable enough stories to remind one of "where it's at, man" (as we used to say in the 60's)
 
Re: Interesting Cruises

I rather enjoy the "confessions" type articles, not necessarily because they are embarrassing for the author. Libby Purves (and the late lamented Des) also turn out copy that I am happy to pay money to read.

I really don't have any interest in the latest boats test of yet another mass produced grp JenBenBav, or how to wire up a fridge or integrate a chartplotter with an epirb, a full function weather station and a gas powered cooker. The tales of how well the 1970-90 small cruisers handle are interesting. Best of all, I'd like YM to reprint my antarctic photo article from 1987 so that I can have a few hundred quid to spend at the Southampton boat show!!
 
Re: Interesting Cruises

Maybe ther's a market for a yottie mag in the vein of those car and motorbike mags which are really an excuse to look at lots of girls with no clothes on? Just a thought....

I guess we should include blokes with no clothes on too, don't want to restrict our market.
 
Cascading bits of paper - I hate them
"How I avoided near disaster and learnt from it" stories
Illustrations in "near disaster" stories with lots of black clouds, sheeting rain and huge waves.
Boring boring boring boat reviews - always spinning crap performance/finish/whatever to read as if it were a positive aspect so as not to annoy the advertisers - for "beats up as good as anything in her class" read "goes to windward like a bloody pig" etc.
 
I like the "lessons learnt" articles, even if I often disagree with the lesson learnt, e.g. "I should have had more fuel to keep me to windward and power the radio so I could keep the coastguard informed" - er no - you should learn how to sail in stonger winds. It's a good article if you can find yourself on a train arguing with a magazine.

The sailing skills quiz is good and a good way to find out what you are still blindingly ignorant about. I also plough through the boat adverts at the back so I can find out what to dream about next, or how much my current dream boat is selling for.

Biographical articles can be a great read, particularly if the person has done amazing things but you've never heard of them.

Blue water diaries are dull - all liveaboard gossiping about each other rather than how it feels to be miles away in the middle of the blue.
 
I'd second that Blue Water thing - who cares? I'd much rather read about Jim and Bob getting into difficulty on passage from Poole to Yarmouth in a tin bath with only an AA road atlas and the compass out of the heel of a kids shoe (anyone remember those? Clarkes Commandos, a fine shoe if ever there was one!).

I do read the news snippets from around the coast and unlce Tom C's page on Sailing Skills (or whatever its called).

Boat tests are okay if its an interesting boat. But the AWB reports do read like 'copy and paste' jobs with a 'find and change all' applied to the model and LOA! That said, I always read reviews of boats from the same manufacturer as my own (or at least those from the same country) so presumably the best way to keep readership up is to concentrate on the volume marques like ben/jen/bav et al.

I too am sick to the teeth of marina handling articles (although I could probabaly do with reading a few!) but am still interested in more general 'craft skill' type content.

Oh, and just one more thought... I'd like to see a lot more on Gyspy Moth, I feel this has been massively under reported in YM and they should make up for it by having an entire edition, no make that 2 editions, entirely devoted to it.


Mark
 
Learn from experience
improve the boat
proper equipment reviews - not just a repeat of some manufactuerer's blurb, and done with comparisons e.g. as was done with tenders, and small outboards for tenders
 
My favourite in YM is Libby Purves. Tom Cuncliffe also often writes very readable articles.
 
NO chartering articles

NO more about GM IV

NOTHING EVER by Miranda Delmar Morgan

Interestingly, I have just gone through a load of old YM and PBO's, dating back to the early eighties, yes realy, articles headed "is there a future for GPS" "How to service your Seagull (I expect they refer to the outboard)" "Decca masterclass" etc etc.

But what is very interseting is that there was even then articles where the RYA raised the issue of duty on fuel, power boat wash and space to moor you boat.

The only thing that seems to have changed is the adverts are bigger, more colour. The boats are more expensive and the electronics change from one month to another.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Oh, and just one more thought... I'd like to see a lot more on Gyspy Moth, I feel this has been massively under reported in YM and they should make up for it by having an entire edition, no make that 2 editions, entirely devoted to it.

Mark

[/ QUOTE ]

Can't agree there. I must confess I'm getting a bit bored of seeing endless photos of the ever so slightly once manky old boat tottering up and down the Solent. Yeh, great boat of historical interest and nicely restored. But enough already. I see YBW is calling it the 'star of the show' - I'm not sure even F.C. would have called it that, if he were still about.
 
I take PBO every month and find it pretty good on the whole. However the one thing that narks me is the huge bias towards the Solent and South Coast, almost to the total exclusion of other sailing areas.

Surely it wouldnt hurt to feature Wales now and again.

Roger Oliver has recently completed his second circumnavigation of The British Isles and both voyages provided interesting reading in PBO except that he went straight from the West Country, around the West Coast Of Ireland and across to Scotland - missing Wales out altogether....twice!
 
Main trouble is with PBO is that it does'nt know what it wants to be, sail - power or classic. take out the parts that dont apply to your own preference, then what is there?
 
I read 3 of them, YM, PBO and Sailing Today. I used to like YM in the days of yore with Des at the helm. Sailing has changed since then of course as has practically all aspects of life but I'm afraid YM is not going a way I like. It seems to be bland, non confrontational, "corporate", full of beautiful photography but not much substance. I'm seriously thinking of giving it up. I appreciate it's a personal point of view but the Gypsy Moth thing was totally overdone. The magazine seems to have been used as a fund raising tool which I found disquieting, especially as I'm buying it for articles not for page after page about GM. I don't know if it's just me but I don't like the fact that some of its recent staff don't seem to be very experienced sailors. I realise that it isn't necessarily a bad thing but for some reason I find it a bit disquieting. Probably because I can't relate to them. PBO hasn't changed that much over the years. Bits of tinkering here and there but the essence of the mag is still the same. I didn't rate Sailing Today until about 6 months ago. Then they did a couple of really interesting articles based on papers at the NMM in Greenwich. Articles with a bit of substance based on maritime history. I really enjoyed them. I also like the new boat testing format they've come up with, testing a new boat only after it's been sailing for at least 6 months. Finally there's been more than a cou[le of references in IPC magazines,not necessarily complimentary to AWBs. Since a majority of us come into that category I think it's biting the hand that feeds it. Are they really that contemptuous of its readers and their tastes in boats ? VM rant over.
 
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