Wet Willy said...
Looking at my huge collection of exactly two 1980s Aussie mags, I notice the sheer hugeness of the local market back then. Lots of shops, manufacturers etc and oceans full of windsurfers. These mags obviously shut down for a reason. Could they survive nowadays? I don't know...
I've only recently been in the process to become a born again windsurfer, when I find the right priced used gear that is.
I come from the heady early '80s windsurfing era and experienced first hand the sport blossoming in good ways and bad. It was a fantastic time, lots of new inventions (equipment and tricks) to try out. There was lots to read about and plenty of people of like mind to share those experiences with. Car parks at beaches, lakes and large enough waterways were always full of people on any windy day. It was a fantastic, if not crowded, sight I now can recall.
The mentioned publications by
ka43 covered many areas of the sport and in different formats reflecting cover prices and targeted audiences. However, it became too much for the industry to support even in its hey-day and the publishers were forced to shut their doors as they could not survive on just magazine sales. It was a pity the large publishers decided a windsurfing mag was a good title to make money on and put one out. The result was the independent hard-core publishers with their heart in it and no money suffered the most as advertisers were drawn to the large and impressive corporate ones. But that's business, the strong survive.
The 'net nowadays can put news on screens much faster and cheaper than putting them into print however the downside of the net is you have to know where to look for info or have to spend hours scouring websites to keep updated. A magazine is so much more convenient to read.
It would be a huge task to put something like this together not to mention various resources required if you went to print. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see something too but who has the finances to support such a thing, now is definately not the economic time. But I've been proven wrong many times so what do I know. I've been told that when the economy is down that is the time to start something new with the idea that when the economy returns you will already be up and running. Waiting and staying afloat financially in the meantime is the difficult part.
If a magazine will exist in Oz it should be treated as a vehicle to point people to websites for more information but not use it as an excuse for little content which is what previous Oz publications ended up doing. Magazines are highly portable and can carry lots of pics which most people like without having to wait for download time. They can carry new product reviews to save the reader trolling the 'net and point the reader at the manufacturers website for specific information. However, serendipity is always a good thing when you troll.
Websites can update easily, quickly and cheaply and there is no reason the two media should compete, they should be able to compliment each other. It can be done, unfortunately print is more expensive and that's what can kill the concept.
I predict windsurfing in Oz will make a comeback but not to the numbers of the '80s. Why am I so confident? Look around and there is evidence. Surfing has found a resurgence particulalry with longboards. The "poor-man's transport" of motorcycles has made a huge comeback too. Even the mobile house blocks have made a resurgence. If they can so can windsurfing, afterall those 'interests' peaked within a decade or lessfrom each other. If my prediction is correct I reckon windsurfing will rise from the ashes within 5-10 years in this country.
Then again, what do I know, I've been out of the sport for 17 years and contributed nothing to it in that time so I'm as much to blame as the next person. I hope I can change that one day soon.
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