Practical Sailor

Sailboats may ride with the wind and float on the water, but they are absolutely

sold with hype and romance. If you consider that the sailing tradition itself is

a combination of elitist romanticism and macho stoicism, it seems almost

natural that it's hard to get straight information about anything.

Most Sailing magazines are advertising-driven. That means that they make their

money by catering to their advertisers, so 'product reviews' are really pretty much

puff pieces. Even the most experienced and forthright sailors have limited

experience with brands of boats and types of gear.

Into the gap comes Practical Sailor. PS accepts no advertising. It does rigorous testing

and includes information on products that are never advertised. (Has any other boating

magazine reviewed the splendid Rhodes 22?). It is thoroughly indexed and non-subscribers

can order reprints of articles on topics of interest to them.

Note that the reviews tend to be of very high-end items and that an annual

subscription is a pricey $84 for 20 issues. That's a lot of money in the world

of magazines, but not much money in the world of sailboats.

Lynn Hoffman-author of The New Short Course in Wine and the outrageous new novel bang BANG.