Sharing The Passion

“The thing you’ve got to realize about the boating industry is that people have a passion for boating, and that’s what makes it fun. Some of us work real hard in this sport, but we do it because we love boating.”
I was 48 hours into my new role as the associate publisher/editor-in-chief of Boating Industry, and already I found somebody speaking my language at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show.
My new brother-in-arms was trying to express what attracted him to become an aftermarket manufacturer in the marine industry — it all started with a hobby he loved and an idea to make it better.
Eventually, boating became his business – and like any business, it has its good days and not so good days. But the enthusiasm his customers exude mirrors his own love of boating, and that’s what keeps him going on the rougher days.
Here at Ehlert Publishing, we live that theory. For more than 20 years, we’ve been publishing consumer and trade magazines in the motorcycle, snowmobile, ATV, personal watercraft and bowhunting markets. I’ve been with the Ehlert team for nearly 10 years.
Like any job, there are days that wear me down. And I don’t get to ride my motorized toys as often as I’d like to – just like I’m sure many of you have jobs that keep you off the water too much.
Yet it’s the passion that surround those activities – displayed by everyone from assembly line workers to end users – that creates the excitement, the energy and the vitality that lead to job satisfaction.
That is why we wanted to expand our involvement in the boating market. The similarities to our various powersports endeavors are striking. There are crossovers in customers, engine manufacturers, finance, insurance and computer service providers and in some of the distribution channels. There’s also a crossover in passion.
We know we’ve got a lot to learn, but we’re not going it alone. We’ve gathered a team of respected boating journalists, including exisiting Executive Editor Liz Walz and European Correspondant David Foxwell; former Boating Industry editor Jeff Kurowski; and our own longtime boating writers, Matt Gruhn and Jeff Hemmel. Plus, respected columnist Ben Sherwood will join our team for the next issue.
We’ve also redesigned and refocused the magazine. We are going to seriously beef up the editorial content of the magazine while maintaining the solid foundation of the boatingindustry.com Web site.
In Boating Industry magazine, you’ll see a sharper focus on the American boating market. You’ll see more attention paid to the people behind marine businesses. We’ll also keep our eyes focused on trends that are evolving with the market.
So welcome to the first issue of the new Boating Industry magazine. We’ve got our own passion – to create the best trade publication the marine industry could ever imagine.