Practical Boat Owner December 2021

with the editor To receive the editor’s monthly email newsletter, go to our website: www.pbo.co.uk Weighing anchor… My time as editor of PBO has run its course. The previous editor, David Pugh, signed off in the November 2017 issue, after which the UK’s best-selling boating magazine was uprooted from its birthplace on the shores of Poole Harbour and transplanted to the decidedly less nautical realm of Farnborough Business Park. Since then, of course, the pandemic swept through and, as with almost all businesses, a laptop and a mobile phone have provided the connection between me and the team of staff and contributors you see listed on the left. It is my photo that appears at the top of this page, but PBO is home to some of the most hardworking, devoted editorial and production…

with the editor To receive the editor’s monthly email newsletter, go to our website: www.pbo.co.uk Weighing anchor… My time as editor of PBO has run its course. The previous editor, David Pugh, signed off in the November 2017 issue, after which the UK’s best-selling boating magazine was uprooted from its birthplace on the shores of Poole Harbour and transplanted to the decidedly less nautical realm of Farnborough Business Park. Since then, of course, the pandemic swept through and, as with almost all businesses, a laptop and a mobile phone have provided the connection between me and the team of staff and contributors you see listed on the left. It is my photo that appears at the top of this page, but PBO is home to some of the most hardworking,…

Classic sail training fleet arrested A fleet of six classic yachts, including three 1959 Morgan Giles 43ft sail training vessels built with no expense spared for the Britannia Naval College in Dartmouth, lie chained to their berths at Chichester Marina for non-payment of mooring and storage fees. The writs, served by the Deputy Admiralty Marshal, were pinned to the yachts on 27 August, and cannot be moved until the debts and legal expenses have been cleared. Failure to do so will lead to a forced sale by auction. The three Morgan Giles 43s, together with three other classics, are all that remains from what was a 12-strong fleet built up by David Foster to provide commercial day-sailing yacht charters under the banner Classicsail.co.uk. One of the last occasions when sails were hoisted was in…

PBO editor Rob Melotti is stepping down after four years as editor of the UK’s biggest boating magazine to focus on family commitments. Rob joined PBO in 2004, as sub-editor, having previously worked as a dinghy instructor at Southampton Water Activity Centre. He became news editor in 2007 – taking over the role in the aftermath of the Ouzo tragedy – eventually leaving in 2010 to go freelance and work from home after the birth of his daughter, Caroline. In 2016 he was snapped up by sister title Yachting World as production editor. Rob took over at PBO with the December 2017 issue following the departure of most of the previous team to redundancies when the magazine was uprooted from its birthplace in Poole and transplanted to Farnborough. With the help of a…

Classic sail training fleet arrested A fleet of six classic yachts, including three 1959 Morgan Giles 43ft sail training vessels built with no expense spared for the Britannia Naval College in Dartmouth, lie chained to their berths at Chichester Marina for non-payment of mooring and storage fees. The writs, served by the Deputy Admiralty Marshal, were pinned to the yachts on 27 August, and cannot be moved until the debts and legal expenses have been cleared. Failure to do so will lead to a forced sale by auction. The three Morgan Giles 43s, together with three other classics, are all that remains from what was a 12-strong fleet built up by David Foster to provide commercial day-sailing yacht charters under the banner Classicsail.co.uk. One of the last occasions when sails…

PBO editor Rob Melotti is stepping down after four years as editor of the UK’s biggest boating magazine to focus on family commitments. Rob joined PBO in 2004, as sub-editor, having previously worked as a dinghy instructor at Southampton Water Activity Centre. He became news editor in 2007 – taking over the role in the aftermath of the Ouzo tragedy – eventually leaving in 2010 to go freelance and work from home after the birth of his daughter, Caroline. In 2016 he was snapped up by sister title Yachting World as production editor. Rob took over at PBO with the December 2017 issue following the departure of most of the previous team to redundancies when the magazine was uprooted from its birthplace in Poole and transplanted to Farnborough. With the…