Go-Fast Boating Media Isn’t Done

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Even in the best of times, the high-performance powerboat world was primarily covered by just two magazines, Powerboat and Hot Boat. Yes, there were other players including the event/club-based magazines, Poker Runs America and Florida Powerboat Club’s Powerboating in Paradise, and both of those magazines are still in print. And yes, there were other would-be competitors that came and went, most notably the energetic but barely edited Extreme Boats magazine. But Powerboat and Hot Boat, which eventually gave way to what is now Performance Boats, ruled the go-fast print magazine roost. Both published 10 issues a year and some of those issues were more than 120 pages.

And then, about five years ago, the bottom fell out of the go-fast market. OK, what the heck, the bottom fell out of the housing market, the lending and credit markets, Wall Street and, just for fun, the entire economy. Performance Boats, now bi-monthly with both “Lake” and “Offshore” versions, magazine survived. Powerboat, for any number of reasons, did not.

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