Looking to Latitude 38’s Future

In spring 2027, Latitude 38 will celebrate its 50th anniversary of covering and connecting the West Coast sailing community. The current publisher has been here for four decades and is looking for a new owner to take the helm.

At its core, Latitude has been a hub for the West Coast sailing community. We follow “the world of sailing through the eyes of the West Coast sailor.” And, as the tagline says, “We Go Where the Wind Blows.”

It’s been an incredible privilege to work with our great crew and the many terrific people serving an inspiring audience of sailors and advertisers. The rapidly evolving worlds of sailing and publishing create opportunities for fresh ideas and new leadership, particularly from someone who understands technology and the next generation of sailors. We believe the soul of Latitude 38‘s culture remains little changed. Sailing is an adventure that connects us with nature, each other and the wind-powered creations built by humans.

We also don’t try to take it all too seriously. Nature and sailing keep us humble, and our sailing friends keep us in good humor while blowing out a spinnaker or dragging an anchor. We all choose to put ourselves in these situations, so why not have a laugh along the way?

Technological advancements have made it possible to build incredible sailing machines and create and distribute an amazing volume of sailing content. Yet life’s soothing moments can still be found sailing a used $700 dinghy, varnishing a well-sanded strip of wood, or sitting back reading a story on a printed page. It doesn’t feel as if any technology will improve upon these simple pleasures.

If you’ve read this far, you may be someone who’d like to carry on the Latitude tradition. Or perhaps you know someone or a group of friends who’d like to carry it forward. We can’t say where the worlds of sailing and publishing are headed, but we remain big believers in what sailing and Latitude 38 have been doing for nearly 50 years. There are plenty of opportunities for the next generation.

We love what we do, but don’t want to stay on the shelf past our “Sell By” date.

We’ve had good conversations with people expressing interest in caring for the Latitude culture, and know it’s time to let a wider audience hear of our search for a successor. Sure, there are business brokers and other professional services who might help, but we’re more interested in finding someone from the Latitude 38 sailing community who already has a passion for publishing and the full spectrum of West Coast sailing.

We’re making the bold assumption that there might be one or more people interested, and with time being a precious commodity, we’re asking interested parties to express their interest through a Google questionnaire. If you have sincere interest, email [email protected] to receive a link to the questionnaire.

It’s time to turn over the helm. Ready about.