FIRST-TIME BUYER
After 25 years of yachting I have recently changed to owning a power boat. As I have always been a keen purchaser and reader of magazines, I also subscribed to MBY but have to tell you after reading two editions that I am disappointed.
I really wanted to enjoy a magazine about power boats and had assumed MBY would be on a par with others like Yachting, Waterways World and Practical Boat Owner, but sadly it is not.
I noted with interest the comments on page 36 of the April edition where David Goldihull said he would have liked more UK cruising inspiration from MBY. Amen to that, I can see nothing on UK cruising either on the sea or inland waterways such as the Thames, Avon and the Norfolk Broads. There are no pages for readers’ letters, no discussion on current issues in the motor boating world and nothing on navigation.
I would really like to understand who the magazine is aimed at and would be very interested in your comments. Who knows you could have a massive circulation that love your magazine so it could just be me.
BOB BROWN
We do our best to cover a broad spread of different craft, topics and budgets but in the same way the other mags you mention focus on sailing, inland waterways and DIY boating fixes respectively, our remit is to cover the more aspirational end of the motor boat market.
That said we’ve got two Uk-based cruising articles in this issue from readers with relatively modest boats, I’ve just commissioned another article on chartering in the Broads plus a whole series on cruising the waterways of Holland. We also have a “How
To” feature in every issue covering everything from boat handling to navigation and maintenance. And last time I checked this was the readers’ letters page. We can’t be all things to all people but stick with us and I’ll try to keep you suitably engaged.