Latitudes & Attitudes has new owners

[Moonfish]

Yes, this time it's for real. My friend Bob Bitchin, who has been thinking about retiring for many years now, sold the venerable publication a couple weeks ago to Erik Kyle of Kyle Media (publishers of Great Lakes Scuttlebutt magazine). Bob will stay on for a year or two as Publisher Emeritus while he brings the new Associate Publisher David Levesque up to speed.

I've been involved one way or the other with Lats & Atts since 2003. In 2004 Bob and I founded the production company that created the Lats & Atts TV show (I made 65 half-hour episodes in 5 seasons). In 2007, my wife came aboard and did TV Syndication. From there she morphed into ad sales, and has been the Ad Director for the last 9 years. Me, I just hang around, write a few stories, and take Bob and Jody cruising on our boat every summer...

Anyway, the new owners are keeping us along for the ride (continuing as independent contractors). They plan on maintaining the reader as the number one priority, while growing the business side of things. But the core concept of boating/cruising as a FUN activity will not change.

As a plus, and this is something my wife and I have been advocated for years, the new owners plan on including more stories and images of people cruising on trawlers. That means stories submitted by folks like us here on TF! Cool!

https://kylemediainc.com/kyle-media-acquires-latitudes-attitudes-magazine/

 

[DWJensen]

Used to be big fans back in the day. I think this was shot sometime in the mid 2000's when J and I were doing time out East End GC. (We were there from 1998-2009).

 

[kthoennes]

We've been great fans of L&A's for years, and we were charter members of the resurrection campaign after the last sale arrangement blew up or fell to pieces and they initially restarted as Cruising Outpost. Sure wish Bob and Jody the best. We got to meet Bob at the Newport Boat Show in 2019. Glad to hear they might expand or broaden the stories and features to include a little more power. We sail too and enjoy that angle, but I'm sure there are a million great power cruising stories to be told. Hope it goes well and the fun, informal, kind of edgy flavor doesn't change.

 

[drb1025]

Glad to see an acquisition by a company that shares the boating passion vs a private equity deal that sucks it dry.

 

[Group9]

We cruised the Bahamas 2010-2011 with a Latts and Atts burgee on the front of our boat (we still have it, hanging in our souvenir area of our bar, but it is so threadbare, we were afraid to take it on the next cruise after that!).

It was amazing how many like minded people that thing drew over at anchorages, and how many people we met because of it.

I remember reading Latts and Atts mags in college and law school, when we were broke as a spoke, and dreaming of the day I would start making those kinds of trips as motivation to finish!