Editor’s letter
‘The quality of crew is crucial’
Have you ever wondered what you look like, through the eyes of your crew, when you’re struggling with a navigational challenge or with the onset of bad weather? Most yacht skippers like to think of themselves as calm, rational decision-makers, but what are we really like under pressure?
One of the articles in this issue is a remarkably intimate portrait of a young skipper facing his first gale on the open ocean (p40). His crew, who had known him since childhood, saw a different side of his character emerge.
It got me thinking about my own crew over the years. Some of them, who know what I’m like ashore, have been surprised, even impressed. Others, well, I dread to think what impression I made. On one trip around Land’s End, I cut straight across the Carn Base shoal into a ghastly chaos of overfalls. My crew asked earnestly if our lives were at risk and I replied by vomiting over his boots.
In publishing, as in sailing, the quality of the crew is crucial. The editorial team here at Yachting Monthly is without any doubt the best crew I’ve ever had: five impressively knowledgeable, capable and reliable colleagues who have become close friends. We’ve been through a lot together but all voyages come to an end. Three of us have decided to leave the magazine.
YM was founded back in 1906 not to publish yachting journalism (there were already several magazines doing that) but to foster a community of keen amateur sailors, give them a voice and enable them to share knowledge and experience. We’re still doing it today – roughly half of our articles are written by a community of amateur cruising sailors who are the real lifeblood of YM and its great strength.
As for me, it’s been a great privilege to edit YM. I have learned a lot, made many friends and worked with some of the people who inspired me to take the leap into yacht ownership almost 20 years ago. But five years is enough. It’s time to let someone else take a turn at the helm and I'm leaving it in Theo's capable hands.
Fair winds to all our readers. See you on the water, or perhaps on the Internet.