Yachting World Magazine

8 May 2014

My ancient masthead wind instrument needed repairing, so I Googled it. Despite there being 3,500 results, I could find no satisfactory answer to my simple question – can it be fixed? Five pages and many suggestions that I turn to eBay or a forum later, I closed my laptop rather too firmly, none the wiser. The following day I happened to be in a South Coast marina when I noticed a small electronics company in a row of offices. Within two minutes the experienced middle-aged proprietor had supplied all the answers to my problem, an estimate of cost and an offer to organise the work. His backroom workshop revealed all sorts of ways to fix out of date kit. There really is no substitute for a conversation with a human being, I concluded. But he could do with getting his search engine optimisation, well, optimised, so that I can find him on the web! As I relinquish the editorship of Yachting World after 35 years on the staff, I wonder if an analogy can be drawn with the future of magazines. I am often asked if paper will survive the digital onslaught. The long-term answer is almost certainly no, but its reliability and other advantages will, like the man who can fix my masthead unit, be tough to beat. As a ‘lifer’ in yachting journalism I have been lucky to experience a phenomenal variety of yachting in all its forms. It has been a privilege not only to sail on many privately owned yachts whose generous owners have allowed us unrestricted access, but to edit a magazine which I hope brings advice and pleasure to our readers. That’s a heady mix I will miss. But one thing I won’t miss is the lack of freedom that work inevitably demands. My neighbour in the yard where I winter my boat said last year: “When I retired it was great to be able to say, ‘I can go sailing on Wednesdays.’” It’s a comment I couldn’t get out of my head, and now that I’m about to retire I can assure you that I will be sailing on Wednesdays and every other day of the week because I can! It just remains for me to wish my successor, Elaine Bunting, good fortune in the fast accelerating world of multi-platform magazine publishing and to thank my talented, loyal and ever-enthusiastic editorial team for their massive support and hard work over the years. It’s been a blast. But my biggest thanks goes to you, the readers. I hope you continue to enjoy Yachting World in all its forms and I wish you the most enjoyable sailing. David Glenn - Editor