Not long ago, we had Dinghy Sailing magazine which Y&Y took over, then Y&Y went from 2 weekly to monthly.  Roll tacks used to be a double page every 2 weeks now its one page once a month.

Last months clubs & classes was only 4 pages, it included, Fireball Nationals, SB20 nationals, Optimist nationals, B14 worlds, Firefly nationals, Flying 15 nationals, National 18 nationals, Squib nationals, 420 nationals, J24 nationals, Contender Worlds, Enterprise nationals, OK Europeans, and on an area the size of a postage stamp was the D-one nationals.  Yes all of that and a bit more was on 4 pages.  There was no top 10 results, gear guide, etc.. like there used to be.  In the old mag, bits like the Optimist/Fireball nationals would of had a double page.

Rubbish!

I think he already has, plus some!  And whilst the forum might generate some conflicting opinions, in the main the advice is very sound.

Check out this thread today... we've all been very helpful, probably because the question was raised openly and honestly and responding appropriately is the right thing to do....  (we should all pat ourselves of the back )

http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11121&title=rs600-buying-advice-needed" rel="nofollow - http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11121&title=rs600-buying-advice-needed

what's the point...  you can go on about new sausages all you like.  You can tell us all about the new flavour combination sourced with provenance from Provence.  You can film it cooking on location in Lake Garda in blistering 'champagne sausage' conditions.  You can discuss the health merits of grilling over frying and how one is better for your back.  I am sure we could find people who could talk at length and in minute detail about the difference between a synthetic and an all natural casing to put said sausage in.  We may could even find a sausage mogul, some bloke who's really a vegetarian and certainly doesn't eat pork, syphoning off the profits of his sausage empire into poisonous baby foods and offshore hedge funds, offering nothing back to the sausage lovers club and is right royally f**king over the local butcher who started it- it'll make good reading and forum vitriol... 

But when joe public walks into Royston Vesey Pools SC, nearly everyone would recommend he just buys an old banger like the rest of us.  And then he can go class racing and f*ck his knees up too.  And they'd be right to do it... class racing tastes better, and like a good Black Pudding, needs a supply of fresh blood and meat to keep it alive.  It's authentic and there's nothing quite so quintessentially British as doing things the traditional way, the way Grandad used to when he were a lad. 

nom nom

I think it's probably a lot harder than we think.  Dougaldog's got a very good post on the Hadron thread showing his experiences reviewing the RS100 against the Halo, in comparison to the D1 and Contender he'd been sailing at the same time.

It's always only ever an opinion piece and whilst we have such large parameters and criteria by which we could judge a boat, it's really impossible to get a gauge on what makes a good review.

Should a new boat be judged by initial price and/or the running costs to assess its real value- TCO to you IT bods?  Having bought a few new boats over the years, that's how I judge the 'value' side of it.  But how does a reviewer know what the depreciation is on a new boat if it's only just been launched?  Are there patterns or trends he or she could refer to build a prediction?

Should a boat be judged just on its technical specification and 'sailing feel' alone, or should we look at the backing behind it to see if it's got the legs and marketing capital to make it a real class to offer class racing?  Frankly the best boat in the world is pointless without someone  to race against.  Unless of course you plan to cruise it and you really, really do get off on handicap racing and the vagaries of it.

Should the editorial direction move the reviewer to put himself/herself in the shoes of the reader or the target market.  They can often be different groups entirely.  Or should we just get to know the reviewers own styles and preferences, so we can adapt what read to ourselves.  I could read an article written about a car by anyone of those wallies on Top Gear, I wouldn't trust a cent of it to actually help me make an informed decision on what to buy!

Take a hypothetical 'new launch'... an entry level Finn, let's say from someone like Boon Boats who make for open class one designs like GP14s, Solos and Phantoms.

If the product was aimed at the higher end club market, priced on par with the Phantom; well built with a good competitive lifespan.  Comes with a choice of skinny, standard or heavy matched off-the-shelf rigs from an OEM group (North/Southern).  It's designed to renew interest in the class at club and local amateur level, rather than specifically aiming to become the next Olympic chariot; would it matter that it wouldn't be as competitive as the top of the range Devoti from Rodney?  Well that question depends on the editorial direction given to the reviewer.  

Next question, if such a boat were around and there was a growing fleet nearby, would you be interested in buying one?      

I think the future for the printed mag in its current format is really rather limited.  Who needs another lifestyle magazine?  You get them free on Sundays.  A monthly magazine full of re-hashed press releases, old event reports and advertorial just to meet current subscriber expectations isn't going to set the world on fire.    I bet they're desperate for original content.

A dinghy bi-annual or maybe quarterly under the Y&Y master banner would awesome- a proper kit review, with proper tests across the boats and bits we use.  A technical section for rigging and tuning.  Rules update section.    Highlights from the best championships and town regattas.  INterviews with the rising stars, the builders and sail makers-  and the amateurs leading the fleets (rather than just the RYA squad tis n' teeth brigade on their quest for minor celebrity.)  Stagger that with another programme for racing yachts, also under the same master banner- plus special editions in Olympic years (more tits n' teeth) and you'd have a portfolio worthy of the Y&Y legacy.

No, we don't need one.  We're dinghy sailors, quite happy with our dreamy idylls and gentle reviews of versatile, family friendly boating products to 'unwind' and while away the hours in a quintessentially English harbour location.   Naturally we may slum it once in a while on a Mark Warner holiday for some 'activities for the kids', but that's only when the Carruther's chalet in Verbier was already fully booked and we missed our ski trip, and to be frank, we've run out of time to find a decent Villa in Kefalonia.

These are the images of sailing advertisers.  They are the customers of the magazine.  The reader is the product upon which the magazine sells its wares- the circulation for want of the old school word.

Yes there are ramshackled old sailing clubs lining the less salubrious parts of the coast, barely keeping themselves out of the red as the numbers of hardened seafolk who they once called members find other things to do with their time and their kids go kitesurfing, or bully each other on Facebook.

There are also run down prefab buildings and overgrown boat parks on the edges of lakes and reservoirs- also known sailing clubs- locked behind wrought iron railings to try and prevent the local scallies from nicking bits off the boats to sell down the scrap yard.   If you find a good one it will have showers, some even have hot water.

The real face of dinghy sailing just doesn't look right in a middle class world of Johnny Boden and Cath Kidston print.... so in turn, it doesn't deliver on expectations, especially when the 'endless summer' of leisure marine advertorial never bloody starts in the first place. 

Read a Pinnell and Bax blog entry about a sh*tty day on Carsington, or flick through the Rooster catalogue to find out how to stop your knees going pop...  that's real dinghy sailing, sadly it doesn't make such a good lifestyle magazine.