Buying a boat advice: market research

You have considered your budget and type of boating, now use the internet and magazines to research what's on offer when buying a boat.

It's important to be practical about your boating choices but you have to like what you see, so make a note of the brands that appeal stylistically.

Here are some recommended sources for your market research:

Online

• YBW Boats for Sale - Browse thousands of boats for sale to get a taste of the market and prices.
• Motor Boats Monthly - motor boat reviews. Independent, free reviews of the latest and most important motor boats on the market.
• Yachting Monthly - yacht reviews. More free reviews but this time for the yachting enthusiast.
• YBW boat reviews and tests - an archive of over 3,500 articles which you can buy online.

In print

• Motor Boats Monthly - Focus is practical boating, with honest and comprehensive tests of new and used craft from sportsboats and RIBs, right up to 60-footers.
• Yachting Monthly - Yachting Monthly is at the heart of the British yachting market and is for people who actively sail their boats - whether cruising across the channel, around the coast or further afield in blue waters.
• Motor Boat & Yachting - MBY's boat tests are acknowledged as the most authoritative in the business and its technical coverage is without equal.
• Yachting World - Yachting World is the most widely distributed and most international sailing magazine in the world, reaching over 100 countries.
• Practical Boat Owner - Practical boat maintenance advice and boat reviews from the UK's biggest selling boating magazine.