Logbook: Season Of Change

While change can be scary, it’s the only way to grow.

Change is uncomfortable. I’ve learned this to be a universal truth. Staying in your lane, keeping your head down, putting in your time, doing what you’ve always done—I suppose there’s a season for everything but the scared and timid rarely make headlines, and they certainly don’t make for good magazine stories.

Our October 2022 issue is about the bold ones, the risk-takers, the people who push themselves and everyone around them out of their comfort zone to create products that aim to change boating forever.

Before I get to them, I want to talk about us. For the last few years, I’ve been fortunate to have the same team around me all working in lockstep to create the world’s best boating magazine (I’m not saying that we always are, but that’s our waypoint). As you likely read in a previous column, Capt. Bill tossed some of his day-to-day responsibilities overboard to write a book and spend more time on his boat. Luckily for us, he’s still a regular contributor, penning his perennially popular “Uncharted Waters” column. In this issue, he also lends his endless wisdom to a report on a multi-day delivery of a Riviera 64 Sport Motor Yacht.

Our Executive Editor Charlie Levine was recently promoted to his dream job as Editor-in-Chief of our sister publication Anglers ­Journal. We’re incredibly happy for Charlie and we look forward to seeing where he takes that venerable title. We’re again incredibly fortunate that Charlie will still be contributing stories, such as Even Flow on page 28. Once you’re in the Power & Motoryacht family, you rarely stray too far.

In other news, our friend and colleague Simon Murray is putting aside his boat shoes—at least for now—to pursue other professional goals. I wish him luck and look forward to enjoying some more boat trips, not as colleagues but as friends.

These changes have presented the brand with the opportunity to inject some new voices to our mix by way of two new senior editors, Shane Scott and Chris Dixon. Both are talented writers who share a passion for the water and an energy from which the brand will undoubtedly benefit.

As Shane and Chris prepared to come aboard, I dug back into the Power & Motoryacht back issues so I could send them some of my favorite editions. Like a parent choosing between his children, I know I shouldn’t have favorites, but there are some that take up more space in my heart than others. As I sat on my office (read: basement) floor flipping through issue after issue, I was reminded that only when you look back can you appreciate how far you’ve come. While I am extremely proud of the work we’ve done at Power & Motoryacht so far, it’s the issues still to come that most excite me.

For the issue, I spent time with two boaters who I know understand how I’m feeling. One was Scott Bryant, vice president of sales and new product development at Hinckley Yachts. As a brand, Hinckley needs no introduction. They earned a reputation for innovation since their original Picnic Boat, with its joystick-controlled jet propulsion, debuted in 1994. It would be easy for Hinckley to rest on its laurels and enjoy its healthy market share and place in history. But again, staying in your lane seldom garners headlines. The brand’s SilentJet hybrid propulsion system I tested is again thrusting the future of electric propulsion to the forefront and their brand’s reputation right along with it. Contributing to our coverage of an electrified future our colleague, Editor-in-Chief of Trade Only Gary Reich reports on a unique electric cat that’s designed to go far and Simon reports on a new electric engine manufacturer in Norway that’s more concerned about going fast.

I also had the chance to spend a day with Seakeeper CEO Andrew Semprevivo testing their game-changing new stabilization system in snotty seas off Atlantic City. The Seakeeper gyro has dominated the stabilization market, and much like Band-Aid and Kleenex, they’re the household name. They easily could have stayed in their lane by just turning out new and improved gyros, but where’s the fun in that? You can’t change boating—or a magazine, or anything, really—without taking a few chances.

I find these people and companies inspiring. They remind me that to really leave an impression and be remembered you must be willing to push the envelope. I hope you find that to be the case in future issues. I know I have the team alongside me to do it.

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This article originally appeared in the October 2022 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.

Source: https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/blogs/logbook-season-of-change