Britain’s hardest-hitting motorboat magazine

This month, in the space of 24 extraordinary hours, I managed to pack in two of the most enjoyable boating experiences of my life. The first took place in the middle of the night, and involved hammering along at 68 knots in cutting-edge powerboat. The second took place in bright sunshine and involved sipping champagne while cruising at a sedate 6 knots in a 17-year-old motoryacht.

Hopefully I have succeeded in capturing some of the excitement and pleasure of these two events in the stories you can read in this issue. What I have not been able to do, until now, is acknowledge how remarkable it is that two such disparate experiences manage to fall within the bounds of the pastime that we love.

It’s all too easy for outsiders to pigeonhole motorboating as a one-trick pony, where everyone blasts around in 30-knot gin palaces, pontoon-hopping from one marina to the next. The reality could hardly be more different, encompassing everything from lazy days spent anchored in secluded creeks to pushing the boundaries of human and mechanical endurance in a bid to set new records.

Given that the freedom to enjoy this hobby of ours is increasingly under threat from legislation, fuel taxes and a sea of red tape, it is vital that, whichever end of the scale our own preferences lie, we remember that we are all part of the same tribe. The pleasure derived from exploring a quiet creek is just as valid and just as powerful as that derived from exploring the limits of a raceboat’s performance.

Bear that in mind next time you’re tempted to scoff at somebody else’s choice of boat. United we stand, divided we fall.

Hugo Andreae, 21 October 2004