Trade-A-Boat – June 2019

10 | TRADEABOAT.COM.AU

ON WATCH

with

TIM VAN DUYL

SENSATIONAL SCIBS
The weather put it on for us again, the boats were
even more stunning and we heard good things.
You can read more about what stood out to us in
News (p.14) but this year’s show was a milestone
for TaB, being the first major show since we
relaunched the magazine.
It has been a great year since last year’s record-
breaking SCIBS. Ten months ago we relaunched
Trade-a-Boat with its present look and this was
the first chance we’ve had to truly hear market
feedback in person. From readers and the industry,
the reinvestment and efforts put into the magazine
have been widely appreciated. It was nice to
hear people who’ve noticed what we set out to
do; create a magazine celebrating Australian
powerboat ownership (with a splash of trailer
and sailboat). We have made a series of changes
since then and will implement more as new and
interesting ideas come up, but for now I am very
proud of the team involved from design to sub-
editing and of course our exceptional contributors.

BACK ONLINE

We didn’t turn the internet off but we definitely

didn’t invest as much time or as many resources

into our website as we have the magazine

throughout the rebranding process. In the last few

months, however, we’ve changed tack to focus on

how to better get news, reviews and, importantly,

boats for sale available to you in the most

convenient and timely manner.

We are proud to announce that we have flicked

the switch on a new website that will offer more

variety in reviews and news, a better experience

for the user and a chance to see more boats for

sale. Right now there are just shy of 5,000 boats

for sale at tradeaboat.com.au, with plans to more

than double that in the coming months.

As with the magazine’s relaunch, there will be

teething issues and we will make small changes as

we discover better ways of doing things. For this,

we would love to hear your feedback. Drop me a

line directly at [email protected]

with any ideas you have for the site, or magazine.

TWO WAY BATTLE

I’m lucky enough to have been reviewing boats

and figuratively steering the ship here for five-or-

so years, but until now I’ve never been part of a

joint review.  I’ve participated in plenty of reviews

that gave multiple writers the chance to form

complete, stand-alone stories, but this issue has

offered me the first opportunity to collaborate and

write just one part of an overall piece.

Ben Keys and I formed a duo to review our

cover boat, the Whitehaven Harbour Classic

40. In a fortunate turn of events, unforeseen
    circumstances enabled us both to experience
    the boat first-hand and combine our efforts to
    produce an article worthy of such a quality vessel.
    To my eyes, the collaborative approach resulted
    in a great piece, but you can head to page 30 to
    decide for yourself.
    Safe travels,
    Tim