From: "Arild Jensen" <elnav@uniserve.com> Subject: TWL: RE: Re: Passagemaker Magazine Marin Faure wrote: >>I would pay money for a magazine that occasionally told me something useful >In other words if I were to write an article about upgrading a 1970's electrical system, you would be more interested than if I wrote an article describing what the latest Feadship is wired like. >In a similar vein if I reviewed equipment that could actually be used on >your kind and size of boat, and cost a boat unit or less; that would be of >interest but the latest satellite communications gear would not. The answer to both statements is yes, but only as it applies to me. Someone else may be very interested in reading about the newest boats and latest satellite communications gear. I don't mean to suggest that what interests me should interest everyone else, too. _______________ C. Marin Faure GB36-403 "La Perouse" Bellingham, WA

In the thread concerning whether only new boats are worthy of editorial attention, It was mentioned that one editor from Passagemaker Magazine expressed the opinion that only "new" boat owners constituted a worthwhile market sector fro advertisers. Today something happened that really put this discussion into perspective for me. A new boat building company has opened shop here in Mission. The owner of this company is Forbes Cooper, a builder of long standing in BC When I introduced myself and asked who did his electrical design, he replied that he had built over 8,000 boats in his time and knew al about it. He said he had an electrician with 30 years experience to do the design work. Then he added that they were building a production boat unlike those guys across the street at Rayburn who specialize in megayachts that are semi custom. He didn't need a real designer. He informed me that they only provided a "basic" electrical system and what was good enough thirty years ago was good enough now. Yeah right! This is an attitude I encounter fairly frequently with a lot of builders. To reduce the production cost they provide the bare essentials and often rely on outmoded design concepts. Some builders still install Ferro resonant chargers and diode isolation blocks for multi bank charging. The builders feels it is up to the new owner to contract with an independent contractor to upgrade the basic electrical system to suit their individual requirements. Somehow they see this as a more cost effective approach than offering the buyer a complete turn key system that does not need upgrading before the first owner can use the boat. But given the reality of such a business outlook, it seems to me that even "new" boats are prime candidates for a magazine aimed at upgrading and customizing the boat. Therefore equipment manufacturers of every imaginable sort would be likely candidates for advertising in a magazine. If a new boat owner is faced with deciding how to upgrade their newly acquired boat; be it 20 years old or straight out of the builder's yard, the total market potential for readership and subscriptions is considerably larger than the PassageMaker editor estimated. I think that editor has become blinkered by BP's dominant personality and mind set. Personally I tend to skip over the glossy big boat ads but read in detail the advertising for all sorts of equipment. Just one more opinion. Hope Georgs is listening. Cheers Arild --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.423 / Virus Database: 238 - Release Date: 11/25/2002