Soundings Celebrates 60 Years — A Note from the Editor

As this issue arrives in your mailbox with the New Year approaching, I want to wish you a happy and adventurous 2024. I hope you find time to put many nautical miles in your wake and visit the places you’ve been dreaming about. There’s no better moment than now to explore the unknown, and traveling by boat remains one of the richest and most rewarding ways to do it.

This year is especially meaningful for Soundings: we turn 60. That milestone calls for celebration and reflection. To honor six decades of coverage, each issue in 2024 will feature an anniversary section highlighting the boats, builders, designers and events that shaped recreational boating. We’ll profile influential people who transformed the sport, revisit landmarks in marine design and reporting, and share memories from the editors, writers and readers who grew up with Soundings.

In this issue’s anniversary coverage, we present a feature on the top 12 boat designers of the past six decades. Selecting that group was far from easy. Our team began with a long list and reduced it after extensive research, many measured discussions, and a few spirited debates. We focused on designers whose work demonstrated both technical excellence and lasting influence. Naturally, any such list invites opinions, and we welcome your feedback. Tell us who you believe should be included and why — reader perspectives help shape future conversations about design, performance and legacy in the boating world.

Also in this issue is a profile of Jack Turner, the founder of Soundings. Turner had a distinct vision: to treat the marine world as real news, covered by serious reporters who were also passionate about boats. Bill Sisson, who spent three decades on staff at Soundings, wrote the piece. Because Bill worked alongside Turner, his perspective is informed by personal experience and deep institutional knowledge. In his profile, Bill emphasizes Turner’s willingness to innovate and to build a publication that earned respect across the recreational boating community and the broader marine industry.

I first encountered Soundings in the late 1980s after graduating college and taking my first job at another boating magazine. Even then, Soundings stood out: it was the publication colleagues read cover to cover. I leaned on its reporting to learn what I didn’t yet know about boats, seamanship, and the industry. That early education helped shape my own approach to covering boating topics with accuracy and enthusiasm.

Bill Sisson was a familiar presence at the major boat shows. He asked tough, well-informed questions at press conferences and took meticulous notes in the slim notebook he always carried. He treated other reporters as colleagues and sources of insight rather than mere rivals. That curiosity and collegiality propelled his career and, in 1998, led to his appointment as editor-in-chief of Soundings. Under Bill’s leadership the magazine evolved, deepened its impact on recreational boaters and strengthened its influence across the marine industry.

In 2018 Bill—then creative director at the parent company for Soundings—invited me for lunch in Essex, Connecticut. We spent the first hour talking boats, the things that draw people to the water and the conversations that keep the boating community vibrant. He later offered me the chance to join his team, and eight months after that he asked if I wanted to helm Soundings. It was a daunting prospect—following in the footsteps of respected editors is never easy—but accepting that challenge turned out to be one of the best decisions of my career.

As we mark 60 years, my promise to readers is this: we’ll keep delivering thoughtful reporting, practical advice for boat owners, and storytelling that celebrates why people go to sea. Whether you’re an experienced captain or a newcomer mapping out your cruising plans, Soundings will continue to be a reliable source for news, reviews and inspiration.

Please join us in celebrating this milestone throughout 2024. Share your memories, your opinions on the greatest designers and builders, and the cruising experiences that define your love of boating. We look forward to many more years of covering the boats, people and places that matter to this vibrant community.

Jeanne Craig — [email protected]

This article originally appeared in the January 2024 issue.