Editor Dan Houston welcomes new readers to a new magazine, for seamanship in seaworthy boats

It’s not a common occurrence to be starting a new magazine, especially one dedicated to traditional seamanship and seaworthy boats, but starting we are, and with some luck, goodwill and a following wind – or just a following actually, we might just be able to establish ourselves as a voice for the commonsense and practical nous that hopefully designates the sort of people we’d like to have as readers.

In trying to set out our stall there is a danger in saying too much, or not saying enough, about the kind of magazine we’d like to be. Will we be about wooden boats? Well yes, but also steel, or glassfibre, or any other material that may be used in boatbuilding. We’d like to point out the qualities of materials of course, and the methods of using them in building watercraft, and we’re hoping to call upon a range of experts who can help us do just that.

But more than that we’d like to be about the experience of going boating. Of buying boats, of learning to use them, of restoring them if they have got a bit tired and of the fun that can be had by getting afloat and drifting off downstream without too much care about what is happening in the wider world.
I have often thought of boats as a bridge, to link the areas of humanity in our planet, and also to bridge a way out – to get into the far backwaters which still exist beyond the fetters of our urbanised mind. They are a way of getting to new places – whether that is to meet people, or to hide away; the boat, especially the small cabin boat, is still a conveyance out into extraordinary experiences. Much is said about how difficult it is to keep a boat now. How the moorings and other costs are prohibitive. But we know people who do it with reasonable modesty and we want to show how it’s done.

These are the things we hope our classic sailors will enjoy and come to value… basically the shared experience of that occasional bit of life afloat. And of course there is a hint in our title that we want to be traditional, both in terms of design and also approach. But we’re not going to be stuck in the past – there are many great boats that might not seem to be classic; as long as the keels don’t fall off we’d welcome them and stories about using them.
And if you think anything with a fin-keel is bascially a modern approach, then take a look at page 11 and the news of Ester – a Swedish racer from 1901 being brought out of the Baltic mud. Of course some boats are for the deep range and some are for more coastal concerns… I think it’s safe to say that we like both types but we might try to educate on which type is for which activity.

I am looking forward to hearing from new readers or maybe meeting you at the Southampton Boat Show.

From Editorial CS001      Image: Sailing with Griff Rhys Jones on Argyll at the start of the Cowes Dinard offshore race. Sink me if we aren’t in front!
By Mark Lloyd www.lloydimages.com