Active Interest Media’s Marine Group today announced the promotion of executive editor Peter Swanson to editor-in-chief of PassageMaker magazine.
Swanson, an award-winning marine journalist and veteran bluewater cruiser, will oversee content strategy and execution for print, Web, social media and digital publications.
The announcement was made Thursday.
Swanson will continue to build and engage readership across all platforms to maintain PassageMaker’s mission as the power-cruising authority, a position the magazine has held since it was founded by Bill and Laurene Parlatore. Swanson joined PassageMaker as executive editor in October 2012, overseeing day-to-day operations across all content channels, as well as managing the editorial staff.
“I’ve worked with Peter for more than 10 years. He is a professional mariner, serious journalist and true believer in the cruising lifestyle. His understanding of the trawler niche is wide and deep,” said George Sass Jr., vice president and group editorial director of the AIM Marine Group. “In his first 12 months with PassageMaker, he directed a redesign of the magazine with art director Dave Pollard, brought back key writers who made the magazine a success, launched a sound digital-content plan that has resulted in double-digit audience growth and developed a long-term strategy that’s already bearing fruit. Peter lives and breathes the cruising lifestyle. He knows how to assemble the right voices to engage this serious group of enthusiasts, and we can’t wait to see the continued results of his veteran team’s efforts under his leadership.”
“Part of our corporate strategy across all of our groups is to find the best people possible who are also authorities in the subject matter they cover. That’s the guaranteed way to ensure we’re putting the audience first,” said Gary DeSanctis, group publisher and general manager of the AIM Marine Group. “And Peter does that in spades. There’s no silver bullet in this business, and high-quality content dedicated to serving a core audience is the only way to also create an effective marketing tool for our partners. I’m looking forward to working with Peter, George, associate publisher Geoff Leech and our incredible team on creating even more ways to deliver on brand content and create the best storytelling experience possible.”
A newspaper reporter and editor for more than 20 years, Swanson worked at the New Hampshire Union Leader of Manchester, serving as editor of the statewide Sunday newspaper, New Hampshire Sunday News, for the last eight years of his tenure. He also launched and directed a Sunday newspaper for the regional newspaper group of the George Foster Company in Dover, N.H.
After saying goodbye to newspapers, Swanson sailed his Cheoy Lee ketch down-island and settled for a couple of years in the Dominican Republic.
When he returned to the States, Yachting recruited him as a senior editor. After a stint at PassageMaker, he headed south once again. This time he went no farther than Florida, where he worked for five years as communications director for Mirage Manufacturing, builder of the Great Harbour line of trawlers.
While working for Mirage, he undertook numerous deliveries on behalf of the company, including a 4,500-mile trip from Florida to Ensenada, Mexico, via the Panama Canal. He also crewed on a Nordhavn 40 for the Oman-Egypt leg of the Around The World voyage in 2002 and the Bermuda-Azores leg of the Nordhavn Atlantic Rally in 2004. He planned and directed the 2005 Downeast Drive, a rally of Great Harbour trawlers from Newport, R.I., to Boothbay Harbor, Maine.
Swanson has more than 20,000 sea miles in power craft. He holds a 50-ton USCG captain’s license and in 2012 was certified as a basic installer by the National Marine Electronics Association. He has won numerous writing awards.
Former PassageMaker editor-in-chief John Wooldridge will return to Yachting magazine at the end of October. “John is a good friend and a trusted colleague, and we wish him nothing but success in his future endeavors,” said Sass.
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About Active Interest Media’s Marine Group
The AIM Marine Group consists of Yachts International, Anglers Journal, PassageMaker, Soundings, Soundings Trade Only, Sail, Power & Motoryacht, Woodshop News, BoatQuest.com and Show Management. Parent company Active Interest Media publishes some of the country’s leading consumer enthusiast magazines, including Yoga Journal, Backpacker, Vegetarian Times, Ski, Black Belt, American Cowboy, Log Home Living, Old House Journal, Oxygen and more. The company’s five publishing groups — Equine Network, Home Buyer Group, Healthy Living Group, Marine Group and Outdoor Group — reach more than 10 million readers in 85 countries.
