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ppetracca
Navigator

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USA
163 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/02/2004 : 19:19:34

After years of receiving SAIL Magazine, I let my subscription expire this past summer.

Why? It seems to me over the last 1-2 years (especially since they revamped their look) it has been bigger boatitis around that place. In the last few issues I received, the "new boat reviews" have all been on 35+ feet boats.

I guess that's where they think the majority of the reader's interests are. I can't blame them for keeping up with the market, but I am at a loss for a decent magazine dedicated to small boat sailors.

I do admit that they have provided some sound racing tips over the years and I owe a certain percentage of my racing success to them.

Does anyone have a recommmendation on another periodical available to the small boat sailor? From trailer sailors to pocket cruisers, is there a magazine for us?

Edited by - on

John G-
Admiral

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793 Posts

Response Posted - 01/02/2004 : 19:55:44

I’ve been reading [url="http://www.cruisingworld.com/index.jsp"] Cruising World [/url] it’s still aimed at owners of bigger boats but interesting reading. You might try [url="http://www.messingaboutinboats.com/index.html"] Messing About in Boats [/url] but most of those stories are about smaller boats than ours. I would also like to find a coastal cruising boat magazine. Maybe we should start one.

Underlined words are a HOT link.

Edited by - John G- on 01/02/2004 19:57:28

Bubba
Admiral

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USA
542 Posts

Response Posted - 01/02/2004 : 20:30:26

I've been getting Cruising World as part of my US Sailing membership. I recently received a notice that the freebie is over and I'll have to buy a subscription. Anyone else get that?

I like the cruising stories in Cruising World. This time of year I have to sail vicariously.

I agree with Patrick's observations on SAIL.

Edited by - Bubba on 01/02/2004 20:31:09

John G-
Admiral

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793 Posts

Response Posted - 01/02/2004 : 20:33:41

A quick [url="http://www.google.com/"] Google [/url] search turned up [url="http://smallcraftadvisor.com/index.html"] “Small Craft Advisor” [/url]. There is a C22 on the cover. They seem to look at 16’ to 22’ boats but it might be worth picking up a copy.

Underlined words are a HOT link.

Edited by - on

mmac
Navigator

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USA
168 Posts

Response Posted - 01/02/2004 : 20:58:41

I cancelled my subscriptions to Sail and Cruising World for the same reasons. They should change their titles to Boats You'll Never Own. I'm considering one called Good Old Boat.

Edited by - mmac on 01/02/2004 21:03:15

Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 01/02/2004 : 21:14:42

Patrick,

I feel your pain. As for "... bigger boatitis ... I guess that's where they think the majority of the reader's interests are. I can't blame them for keeping up with the market, ...", maybe not. However, publications that are (largely) supported by advertising dollars will always slant their content to the (perceived) target market of the biggest advertisers. (And they will never bite the hand that feeds them.) In the case of SAIL, that's the expensive boats, accessories, and luxury charter cruise buyers. I've about decided SAIL can kiss my transom. When I renew, it's with misgivings, not enthusiasm.

In addition to Messing About in Boats, there's ...

Good Old Boat, with a strong emphasis on classic plastic coastal cruisers. Well worth a trial subscription in my opinion.

[url="http://www.diy-boat.com"]DIY Boat Owner, The Marine Maintenance Magazine[/url], with excellent how-to articles. slanted toward trailerable to slightly larger fixer-upper yachts.

And I've occasionally seen something like Coastal Cruiser Magazine (not sure of the actual title). It's hard to find around here, but might be worth hunting down. I can't seem to find my one or two news stand copies right now.

Also, if you ever hear of anyone throwing out their collection of Small Boat Journal, grab it! That was a great magazine aimed at small sailboats, rowboats, 'yaks, canoes, small lightly powered outboards, and other neglected segments of the small boat community. Eventually they were bought out, and became just another ski boat mag.

I assume we all know about Practical Sailor, the Consumer Reports of boating. Very expensive on a per page basis, but merciless product evaluations, and absolutely no advertising (hence the price).

You might want to pick up a news stand copy of Lattitudes and Attitudes to see if it appeals to your tastes. It's not for everyone.

Of course, Boat/US includes a periodical with membership.

The WEST epoxy folks will mail you an informative free periodical about the finer points of using their products if you ask them to. It's about 50% boatbuilding info.

Speaking of which, there's Boatbuilder, The Journal of Boat Design and Construction, which is fairly down to earth about small affordable home built yachts, including lots of sailboats.

Cruising World is good for dreaming, but few of the articles I've read were relevent to a 25' trailer boat. The editor, (Herb McCormmick?) is said to be a nice guy, but they were recently bought out by a huge faceless publishing conglomerate, and there's still that "hand that feeds them" problem.

Well, that should get you started! I'm sure others will soon add their opinions to this thread. After all, it's winter (most places

) -- reading and dreaming season.

-- Leon Sisson

Edited by - on

Sea Trac
Master Marine Consultant

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Vanuatu
1357 Posts

Response Posted - 01/02/2004 : 22:45:07

For all the same reasons stated above, I cancelled SAIL. I've been terribly disappointed in Practical Sailor, and will be cancelling that, as well.

Glad to hear about Good Old Boat and DIY Boat Owner; think I'll try them next.

Not on topic, but my absolute favorite monhtly mail box receipt is Ocean Navigator. Great global cruising articles, as well as technical navigation instruction and resources.

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2004 : 00:02:00

IMHO... Get a subscription to the best sailing rag on the planet... Latitude 38.
There is always something of interest to be found for nearly sort of sailor... from cruisers to racers to chartering to daysailers.

While centered around SF Bay, the scope of the news and articles is global. Nothing pretentious or stuffy about their magazine at all.

Go here for a sampler of their content..

http://www.latitude38.com/index.html
http://www.latitude38.com/LectronicLat/LectronicLat.html
http://www.latitude38.com/chgindx.htm
http://www.latitude38.com/features.htm
http://www.latitude38.com/letrindx.htm

Edited by - on

Mark Loyacano
Navigator

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USA
247 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2004 : 08:21:28

Go to www.goodoldboat.com and sign up for the complimentary issue. This an impressive publication...

Edited by - on

BCain
Navigator

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USA
103 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2004 : 08:33:07

Unfortunatly, Coastal Cruising has gone under. It billed itself as the magazine of achievable dreams and concentrated on east coast, gulf and Bahamas cruising. It focused on midsized cruisers and had loads of local knowledge. I miss it.

Bruce
WindShadow Central Fl. Lakes

Edited by - on

matsche
Captain

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USA
280 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2004 : 09:02:38

I'd like to add yet another vote for [url="http://www.goodoldboat.com/"]"Good Old Boat"[/url]. Best sailing magazine out there for our type of sailing.

Would also agree with some of the above observations of [url="http://www.practical-sailor.com/"]"Practical Sailor"[/url], WAY too much detailed information on subjects of no interest for me. Very expensive too. I would, however, highly recommend their 2 volume set called "Practical Boat Buying" for anyone comptemplating buying another boat one day. It's a compilation of roughly 300-350 boat reviews, each about 4-5 pages in length. They cover a lot, from 19' to 50', mostly used boats that most of us might be interested in. I've had it over a year and still reference it constantly.

As for [url="http://www.sailmag.com/"]"SAIL"[/url], I'll be the voice of dissent and say, it's a great magazine for a lot of different sailing interest. It does favor bigger boats in some of it's reviews, but I've seen many smaller boats reviewed as well. There is also a variety of articles related to sailing techniques, gear, cruising stories and upgrade articles that make it well worth the subscription for me. I like purusing the advertisements as well. I'd put it 2nd to "Good Old Boat".

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2004 : 10:36:01

I, too, dropped my subscription to SAIL a few years ago, but continue to subscribe to Cruising World and enjoy reading it because I aspire to being a cruiser someday even if that day never comes.

I suppose the reason why Cruising World has mostly larger boats in it's pages is because in order to realistically bluewater cruise one needs a relatively substantial boat.

Edited by - on

nate
Navigator

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240 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2004 : 14:08:42

Patrick,
I get the big 3 monthly and agree that SAIL seems feature the larger boats most of us only dream of owning. I like the rest for the following reasons:
SAILING- for it's large format and used boat reviews.
Cruising World- for helping me keep the dream alive.
Latitude 38- because it's free and chock full of great info.
Good Old Boat- good reviews of affordable boats and gear.
Attitudes & Latitudes- Only mag I've been published in!

One other gripe about a couple of the "big mags" while we are on the subject....I get tired of reading stories written by the same people over and over! I feel like they only publish stuff from a handful of sailors and it seems like I'm reading their logbook every month. I could really care less about the crew of "Hawk" freezing their asses off on another high latitude adventure.

Edited by - on

ppetracca
Navigator

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USA
163 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2004 : 19:49:35

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I get tired of reading stories written by the same people over and over!<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Another reason I dropped SAIL.

As our lakes has been dropping, I started looking at back issues for articles about lakes in the West/Southwest.

It seems every article about any lake west of the Mississippi River was by Herb Payson. I am not denying his experience in sailing all his adult life, but there other informed opinons out there.

Side note...his trailer boat is a Catalina 250, yet I don't see his name on the roster of members?? Any comments??

Edited by - on

nate
Navigator

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240 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2004 : 19:57:25

I guess I'm contradicting myself but I like H. Payson's stuff. I've met the Paysons and found them to be funny and down to earth. Maybe he would make a good keynote speaker at Nationals sometime! Just a thought....

Edited by - on

MattL
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 01/04/2004 : 03:32:04

http://www.latitude38.com/index.html

I agree the above mentioned earlier is one of the best. The only one I have a subscription to is "Wooden Boat". The only thing I don't like about it is that it only comes once every two months. I don't subscribe to latitude because it is free here on the west coast if you know where to pick it up. The best parts are the letters and sightings part. Check out their online site if you cant find the rag.

Edited by - on

Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2980 Posts

Response Posted - 01/04/2004 : 07:06:12

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I like H. Payson's stuff. I've met the Paysons and found them to be funny and down to earth.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Herb called and discussed the set up of their C250 centerboard a couple of times... I agree, very unpretentous.

Edited by - on

ppetracca
Navigator

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USA
163 Posts

Response Posted - 01/04/2004 : 08:37:43

My point was the lack of articles by other writer's.

Not a fault with Herb Payson.

Edited by - on

lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 01/07/2004 : 08:34:30

The only sailing periodical I read even somewhat regularly is "Latitude 38", which covers mainly San Francisco Bay, but includes sections like "World of Chartering" and "Changes in Latitudes" that contain articles and letters from sailors all over the world. The few times I have picked up "SAIL", it is obvious that it is almost completely oriented to the East coast and to big boats (meaning non-trailerable). It looks unlikely that I will ever move up from my Catalina 25 to a bigger boat, at least not before I retire which is at least ten years away. Folsom Lake Marina accepts only trailerable boats, due to the requirement for everyone to haul out by December 1st for the winter, so if I had a bigger boat, I would have to keep it on San Francisco Bay, and I decided a few years back that I am not willing to do a 5 hour round trip drive from Sacramento to have a boat on the Bay.

Edited by - on

cat30
1st Mate

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73 Posts

Response Posted - 01/07/2004 : 10:40:45

I find the articels in SAIL go in cycles- after you read it for a few years- its OK to stop for a while and you won't miss anything. We still read Cruising World and Good Old Boat is our favorite now. The on-line version of Latts and Atts is good and Lattitude 38 is also good to check out. I hope everyone also reads the quarterly magazine MAINSHEET

Edited by - on

Raskal
Navigator

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USA
162 Posts

Response Posted - 01/07/2004 : 18:54:55

I had to laugh a little at this string because, as a novice sailor just going through my first subscription cycle of sailing magazines the complaints against these glossies read the same as the complaints I used to read about Car and Driver or Road and Track in my car days and Peterson's Photographic or Photography in my photography days. The hobby changes but the problem remains the same: how to offer the readers an eyeful of fantasy but still connect with their needs.

I know for myself in this stage of my interest the fantasy imagery of ritzy boats and impossible voyages is still fun to read; I'm willing to tolerate a slant toward that as long as there is still something useful in each issue, too. The editors of these glossies will have to find the balance point their readers will tolerate. After a few years I gave up my car magazine subscriptions because when the dream of owning a supercar grew old the $18,000 buy-in for their idea of a minimalist new car left me feeling like a perpetual "non-player". How many readers of Sail can afford the $180,000 buy-in for most of what's offered there?

Sailors are fewer in number than powerboaters because we are romantics pursuing the aesthetical fantasy of partaking in ancient secret technologies and ritualistic customs. Fantasy is at the root of sailing and everyone will enjoy the ride much better if they will admit that to themselves and give in to it as much as possible!

Rich Kokoska

Edited by - on

ddlyle
Captain

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302 Posts

Response Posted - 01/07/2004 : 20:16:28

Well said Rich!!
Like you, I want both kinds of fun and information from the magazines.

Edited by - on

Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2980 Posts

Response Posted - 01/07/2004 : 23:39:25

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Fantasy is at the root of sailing and everyone will enjoy the ride much better if they will admit that to themselves and give in to it as much as possible! <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

My current read is Wayward Sailor. In part, fantasy is appropriately descriptive. However, there is also a naturalness to wind and water that seem fundamental in their appeal.

Edited by - on

Scotd
Navigator

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USA
136 Posts

Response Posted - 01/08/2004 : 16:01:55

This is the one I get http://www.sailingbreezes.com/ It seems to be the best for me.

Edited by - on

Todd Frye
Navigator

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USA
222 Posts

Response Posted - 01/09/2004 : 14:11:53

Years ago, I subscribed to "Wooden Boat" and will probably start up again. The articles and photography were very inspirational and although truly incredible craftsmanship was often portrayed in the featured article, they might run curious articles on primitive fishing boats of Madagascar. And the binder that brings all who enjoy messing about in boats was there in history and traditions of the sea. Years ago WB did an article on the Jepperson (sp?) boat yard in Sidney, B.C. Recently, I was able to attend a Museum convention in Victoria B.C. and thought I'd do some local sight seeing ( more accurately...marina and dock hopping) and unexpectedly came on the Jepperson boat yard. They were refurbishing a Concordia Yawl and Jeppersons son (who is now the boss) took some time to discuss boats. Talk about your visit to the candy store! We are so fortunate to live in an information age where so much is available. I enjoy it all.
http://www.apparent-wind.com/sailing-magazines.html
Todd Frye.

Edited by - Todd Frye on 01/12/2004 12:21:15

Buzz Maring
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 01/09/2004 : 16:00:28

Wow, Todd ... talk about the mother of all links ... thanks for posting that one!

Edited by - on

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