Martin,

You make a good point that the perception is often very different to the actual...it certainly is with mags too as you often see on the forums.

I'm not sure the people I am looking at right now in Eastleigh would fall into my definition of posh and they are certainly not coming across as aloof and yet when, as a personal member I had very little to do with the association I formed my own opinions that perhaps weren';t always terribly accurate.

The idea of trying to translate across what is happening is vital. In the past some mags have tried to do this by offering the RYA its own column but the reality is it falls to us and perhaps it is believed better that way - we can co-operate better but still be very objective about that and have a punch-up if and when necessary.

This forum is a start and there will be discussions to see where it goes from here, I'm sure.

kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com