Sailing is this publisher’s world

In 1974, Murray Davis, an Australian writer and sailing enthusiast, washed up on Newport’s shore with an idea for a magazine aimed at serious sailors. Working out of his small house on a Newport back street, Davis launched Cruising World.
Three decades later, Cruising World is the world’s largest and best known magazine for cruising (recreational sailing, as opposed to sailboat racing), and is the flagship publication of The Sailing Co., the premier publisher in the sport.
The Sailing Co.’s influential titles – Cruising World and Sailing World – both offer in-depth coverage of the boats, techniques, equipment and the latest news and events for the most committed enthusiasts in the sport.
A sailboat cruise can last as long as a summer day in Narragansett Bay, or four months cruising the South Pacific, and Cruising Magazine offers serious cruisers stories about cruising destinations and information and advice on every aspect of the sport and lifestyle.
Sailing Magazine, which was founded in 1962 and acquired by The Sailing Co. in 1986, is aimed at sailboat racing’s elite competitors. Each month, the magazine contains reviews of the latest boats, gear and equipment, instructional features on techniques and technology, and in-depth coverage of sailing’s biggest races.
A number of Sailing World’s editors are world champion sailboat racers in several different classes, while Cruising World is written and edited by cruising experts with tens of thousands of miles under their belt. Stuart Streuli, Sailing World’s executive editor, is writing the America’s Cup coverage for USA Today.
“Pretty much everybody here has the same story: they got involved in sailing first, and then found themselves here,” said Sally Helme, The Sailing Company’s publisher. “Not all of us here are publishing professionals. We are all boaters who find ourselves in the publishing business.”
In 1988, The Sailing Company founded the National Offshore One-Design Regatta series, today North America’s largest sailing regatta series, with nine weekend race events at prestigious yacht clubs across the country.
And in 2004, the company launched a third magazine, Power Cruising, which is aimed at older sailors tiring of the rigorous physical demands of sailing and moving into power boats.
Once a year, The Sailing Co. also publishes “The Sailing Market: State of the Industry,” the only comprehensive statistical report available on sailboat production in North America, and the benchmark used by the National Marine Manufacturers Association.
The company does custom publishing for partners in the sailing industry, such as the event program for Block Island Race Week, and the handbook of the U.S.-IRC, the national sailboat racing handicapping system, based in Tiverton.
And The Sailing Co. is the official media partner of U.S. Sailing, the sport’s Portsmouth-based governing body.
Given their high profile, The Sailing Co.’s publications attract not just a wide range of advertisers in the marine industries, but also luxury car companies, designer watch makers and other companies seeking to market their products to the sailing community.
“The way we try to build our business,” Helme said, “is by being smarter and more creative than our competitors, and working more closely with our advertisers to help them succeed, because if they succeed, we succeed. It’s pretty simple.”
Ownership of The Sailing Co. has changed hands a few times since 1986, when Davis sold the magazine to The New York Times. Today, when not cruising, Davis can usually be found at his home on Castle Hill or his apartment in Paris, Helme said.
The New York Times sold The Sailing Co. to Miller Publishing in 1998, and Miller sold the company to Orlando-based World Publications in 2002. Last month, World Publications became the U.S. arm of the Swedish publishing giant Bonnier Corp.
Such changes of ownership are common in the magazine industry, and through it all The Sailing Co.’s staff and operations have remained almost entirely unchanged.
“We’ve been lucky that our owners have allowed us to do that, and we’ve been able to continue doing a good job delivering the best possible sailing content out there,” Helme said.