Opinion of Practical Sailor magazine?

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Actually, what that points to the importance of regional selection. In this area (Chesapeake Bay), I find they are dead-on, but I'm on the same coast. West Coast growth patterns, on the other hand, are very different.

Additionally, stationary tests are always different from that on boats that are heavily sailed and/or diver cleaned. I suspect their model does NOT apply to a West Coast boat that is cleaned by a diver. Not at all.

The important thing about any review is to VERY carefully read the definition of the investigation and then think how it applies to your situation.

Yes, as someone who earns his living maintaining anti fouling paints and has participated in testing programs for manufacturers, I understand the differences in regional fouling conditions and how that affects anti fouling paint performance.

That is not the point however. The point is that when Practical Sailor publishes an anti fouling paint review, they do not stipulate that a particular paint they give high marks to will work well in whatever area the reader does his/her boating. They'll say, "Amce Anti Fouling Paint is a good performer," not, " Acme Anti Fouling Paint is a good performer in Rhode Island but not Southern California." And in virtually every review I read as a subscriber, my personal and professional experience was different than Practical Sailor. It actually lead to my cancelling my subscription.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

That is not the point however. The point is that when Practical Sailor publishes an anti fouling paint review, they do not stipulate that a particular paint they give high marks to will work well in whatever area the reader does his/her boating.

Actually they did do reviews and reports that recommended different paints for different locales, FL and southern vs NE as I recall.

[Island Time O25]

For me their bottom paint reviews mostly lacked relevance. As someone who hauls out every season I don't need to know how well that $400/gl paint works for the next 3 years. Tell me which of the cheapest ones will last me from mid May to late October. I'm not putting on anything more expensive than $70-90/gl anyway as I'll be washing it off with a bottom wash in late October. In 10+ seasons only once did the cheap paint failed and allowed quite a "beard". 90% of the time it was good enough for it's purpose. Haven't read that in PS.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Actually they did do reviews and reports that recommended different paints for different locales, FL and southern vs NE as I recall.

Right. 100% useless for any location other than FLA and NE.

[Hearts Content]

If you want my opinion of Practical Sailor, please buy my special edition book "what I think about practical sailor". There's also a special edition, "what others think about Practicsl Sailor" that you can purchase that really helps expand on the first publication to give the full picture.

[Snore]

I kept my subscription to PS. Why? Unlike free internet reviews, I don't worry about fake data or biased tests. PS always explains the means and methods to each test. While they are not perfect, I feel more comfortable following their advice than someone with a YouTube channel.

Among the articles in this month's magazine is adhesive removers and an update to some testing they did on galvanized shackles.

I have squandered more than my annual subscription on stupider things. So for my money "it couldn't hurt".

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Right. 100% useless for any location other than FLA and NE.

Not sure I would say 100% useless. As I recall they go somewhat generalize on the test conditions IE cooler water, brackish vs salt/fresh, etc. Also covered paints that maintained viability when dried for boats that haul for off seasons etc.

Since you do have a lot of experience looking at boat bottoms why not give some information on the bottom paints that perform well in your area? Some readers might find that interesting.

[SecondBase]

Their non-financially biased research DECIDED my radar reflector upgrade. 100% SATISFIED to include a buddy boat's gleeful "large return" verification !!! I simply cannot run multi-vendor product testing myself. As an engineer reviewing any available scientific measurements is my starting point. Separately - bottom paint is an applied chemistry experiment and a local issue. Paint performance can change over a 5 mile distance let alone nationally. Their article should only be one minor factor in your paint selection. Better is walk n talk your dock to find out what works locally. For these reasons, bottom paint is not the product to assess practical sailor. Radios, ropes or radar sets would be much more fair reviews to judge them by. (Err lines lol)

[W3GAC]

While we are retiring from the cruising lifestyle, I considered Practical Sailor indispensable during the prep years and active cruising time. Just one mid-informed early decision can cost you $ 1000s of dollars of redo/ throw-away. And then there is a safety aspects that's hard to put a price on. As a career electronics person there is just no comparison between the fact based Practical Sailor reviews and the very often out of date/ misinformation from often well intending but really lacking the expertise, breath of experience, instrumentation to cover all the considerations that could be critical in some situations. This is not to say crowd input isn't valuable too, it is. And I read everything I can find before making big decisions, especially on items out of my training/ experience. But I have also ALWSYS included PS before making the final decision. PS too expensive. I don't think so at all.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by skipmac

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Since you do have a lot of experience looking at boat bottoms why not give some information on the bottom paints that perform well in your area? Some readers might find that interesting.

skip, FYI, he has done just that. Many, many times.

[ggray]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Not sure I would say 100% useless. As I recall they go somewhat generalize on the test conditions IE cooler water, brackish vs salt/fresh, etc. Also covered paints that maintained viability when dried for boats that haul for off seasons etc.

Since you do have a lot of experience looking at boat bottoms why not give some information on the bottom paints that perform well in your area? Some readers might find that interesting.

I've got to chuckle a bit here!

So if Fstbttm found a paint that worked so well that no scrubbing was ever needed, would you expect him to tell people about it?

Reminds me of a story I read about an exchange many years ago between I think the owner of a shipyard and his foreman.

The owner spoke of putting copper sheathing on wooden hulls to protect them from toredo worms. The foreman said no, the toredo is our friend to keep us in work. We should be putting honey on the hulls to attract them.

Merry Christmas all!

[W3GAC]

While we are retiring from the cruising lifestyle, I considered Practical Sailor indispensable during the prep years and active cruising time. Just one mid-informed early decision can cost you $ 1000s of dollars of redo/ throw-away. And then there is a safety aspects that's hard to put a price on. As a career electronics person there is just no comparison between the fact based Practical Sailor reviews and the very often out of date/ misinformation from often well intending but really lacking the expertise, breath of experience, instrumentation to cover all the considerations that could be critical in some situations. This is not to say crowd input isn't valuable too, it is. And I read everything I can find before making big decisions, especially on items out of my training/ experience. But I have also ALWSYS included PS before making the final decision. PS too expensive. I don't think so at all.

[HopCar]

I've been subscribing since the seventies. I rarely disagree with them on products I've used my self. If they say a product is good, it may not be the very best but it will be pretty good.

A member of this forum is one of their testers and I always respect his opinion when he posts here. He may not want you to know who he is so I won't post his name.

[nortonscove]

Like all opinions. It suffers the same ills as this site and in so can be useful but often just reflects the unfounded bias or untested beliefs of the writer. Just get out there and find your likes and desires. You'll soon learn they are yours and yours alone.

[JD-Odyssey]

They promise to provide unbiased reviews of various sailboat models. Is anyone familiar with their reviews? Do they provide what they promise?

If it's strictly reviews of various sailboat models, there may be better places to research those models which interest you. i.e., many sailing associations (by boat mfger) sponsor blogs, local owners will give you an honest assessment of what they like or don't like about their boats. You can learn a lot at boat shows where you can often meet owners who are more than willing to share their experiences and opinions with you. I subscribed to PS magazine early on but mostly for various product reviews (waxes, adhesives, etc.) to point me to new and interesting products. I never really read or paid much attention to their boat reviews.