Michael Collins is the Advertising Manager and has been for all of 48° North's years but one. A collegiate sailor at Western Washington University, he was manager of the Cal Marine store when he joined up. He’s worked tirelessly to promote sailing not only in Seattle, but with the Sail America organization and is a mentor for the Sea Scouts aboard the Yankee Clipper.




Jane Larson officially started with 48° North in 1989, doing the books. She then added on classifieds. She's the reason 48° North is still around - she knows where the money is but won't tell.



Karen Higginson has been with 48° North since 1987. Because she takes care of the Lowtides, Calendar and the ever challenging Race Report, she knows everyone. What’s even better is she remembers all their names.



Nicole MacLean graduated from Oregon State this year and joined us for the summer. Truly a breath of fresh air whenever she enters the room.



Derek Brown has joined the crew to do classifieds and display advertising. He brings some much needed expertise to help us with these computer plastic box thingies.
hile much of the foundation for 48° North was laid in the early years, the present editorial quality of the magazine has been primarily the work of editor, Richard Hazelton. The sailing magazine's third editor, Hazelton brought with him a cruising and racing background when he assumed the position in February 1985. He fit in perfectly with the philosophy that sailing is fun, but he also believed there was too much ‘I' in the magazine and too many inside jokes. "I wanted it to be more of a readers' magazine, like a conversation on the dock between sailors that everyone could join in."
      As, Hazelton states, he functions as "the choreographer" of the magazine. Every month, he works with a diverse group of writers and photographers. A few are professionals, but most are readers who want to relate a story or experience. "Every sailor has a tale to tell," he says. "It's my job to be willing to listen to everything. And, ultimately, we mustn't lose sight that 48° North is still a magazine for the readers, by the readers and about the readers. We are lucky to have some great stuff come in from some high powered sailing folks, but I like to keep our basic focus on a guy with an Islander 30. Not rich, probably not his first boat, and sailing is what he likes to do. Most people want to be that guy, are that guy, or were that guy, so they can relate."
      Being able to glean through the manuscripts puts Hazelton in the catbird seat. He daily reads the best and worst, the funniest and scariest of the sea tales. Then he must choose which ones to share with the readers.
      "He has an insight that a lot of other editors don't have," Streatch said in 1991. "He has an instinct for stuff that's good, and for people that are good, that had been missing at 48° North up until that time. He can see life in a piece that other editors would automatically reject." Every month, he must choose from a number of diverse manuscripts that appear on his desk daily by mail and email. He must make tough choices on what stories to run. Many good stories never see print because there's just not enough room for everyone. While he regrets having to reject good pieces, he also admits it's a luxury he didn't have when he started over 21 years ago. When he took over as editor of 48° North, he had no manuscripts and a magazine to produce in 20 days. "There were times in those first few months when we (myself and Julie McGown the associate editor then) were just hoping for an envelope to come in the mail so we'd have enough articles to put in the magazine."
      Through the years he has made many subtle and not-so subtle editorial changes in the magazine. The most pronounced change was in cutting back on all the columnists, which by early 1985 had grown to include six different writers. "It's hard work to come up with a new topic every month and the writers were relieved to not have to come up with new stuff after having done it for a few years. They continued to contribute but not monthly" he notes."
      Having a magazine filled with columnists also limited his options in running other sailing stories, to which he wanted to give more attention. "Before, I had room for one, maybe two features. Now, each month I can get in five or six. We could do the interview and still have room for a couple cruising stories and a larger racing section. I couldn't do that before."
      Other editorial changes ensued. Hazelton has more vigorously pursued sailors from outside the Northwest for interviews, believing that while they may not be from here, they have still directly impacted local sailors. It resulted in talks with Gary Jobson and Bill Lee, with alter Cronkite and David Rockefeller. He retains the Northwest flavor by mixing in conversations with such local sailing luminaries as Carl Buchan (actually anyone in the Buchan family) Paul Bieker, the McKee brothers, and locals who have had an impact on the sailing scene far beyond the Northwest.
      Through the years and the many changes, Hazelton believes the content has improved, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by upwards of 70,000 monthly readers of the magazine and 20,000 people visiting the website monthly. The hard work of the entire crew at 48° North has paid off in other directions, as well. "In the past few years," Collins says, "we've done well enough that we can afford to put a portion of the profits back into actively and monetarily promoting sailing." Sailors receive the immediate benefits as 48° North sponsors such activities as the annual Swap Meets with Fisheries Supplies, Tropical Night at the Duck Dodge, along with providing prizes and publicity for local yacht club events."
      In his position as Advertising Director, Collins also has led 48° North‘s continued support of the sailing industry. "We're a reflection of the sailing industry," he added. "If the sailing industry is doing well, we, as a magazine, will do well." Readers of the magazine seldom hear of these activities, but advertisers notice. As a result, 48° North has created a loyal group of advertisers who have stayed with the magazine throughout the years.
      Even with these outside activities, the primary responsibility is the same today as it was 25 years ago: putting out a monthly sailing magazine. The natural evolutionary process of 48° North continues. A heart attack in 1988 prompted Streatch to slow down. "The future of the magazine is Mike and Rich," he stated then, comfortable with the thought of his two long-time sailing cohorts directing 48° North into the next century. A labor of love, Chuck worked into the next century, but with his passing last June the magazine will indeed carry on under Mike and Rich's direction.
      One aspect of change will be on the internet. 48° North has had a website since 1998. It was picked as a favorite by Forbes Magazine (although they complained that only part of the mag was on the site, they wanted the whole thing!), and is one of the top 500,000 of all websites. Pretty good when you think of the staggering number of websites there are in the world. The proliferation of material and services on the internet is constantly changing and 48° North will be changing too, hoping to offer even more to visitors to 48north.com.
      48° North loves to promote sailing, and will continue to support yacht clubs and events, along with sponsoring the Swap Meet and Tropical Night at the Duck Dodge. The 48° North crew have become the "grinder" people, hosting the Lewmar grinder at the Lake Union In the Water Boat Show and the Harken grinder at the Vancouver Boat Show. It's great fun if you haven't tried and heated rivalries have developed.
      In past years 48° North has sponsored trips to Tahiti, Tonga, Greece, Yugoslavia, the Windward and Leeward Islands in the Caribbean, the Whitsunday Islands in Australia, the Bay of Islands in New Zealand, as well as barge trips to the canals of France. More trips are being planned (check out We Be Windjammin' story in this issue) so watch upcoming issues to find out where 48° North is headed next. Hint - somewhere with warm water.
      Whatever direction the evolutionary process takes 48° North, readers can be assured that the focus will remain on sailing, and the philosophy will continue to be one which we have all come know so well — Sailing is fun!

...continue to 48° North Silver Anniversary ~ Page Four

...back to 48° North Silver Anniversary ~ Page Two

...back to 48° North title page


Editor Rich Hazelton was selling wholesale sailing gear when he got the call from Michael and Chuck in December of '94. It wasn’t his knowledge of publishing that they liked but his attitude toward sailing.