Veteran yachting journalist and editor Kenny Wooton joined Active Interest Media’s Yachts International as editor-in-chief. He will oversee the title’s editorial department and digital properties and will work to advance its position as the most successful luxury yacht publishing brand in the world.
“Kenny is a proven leader and editorial visionary who will accelerate our group’s over-arching goal of developing the most engaging brands in the markets they serve,” Active Interest Media Marine Group vice president and general manager Gary DeSanctis said in a statement. “We’re overjoyed he’s accepted the position.”
Along with Yachts International, AIM’s Marine Group includes PassageMaker, Power & Motoryacht, Sail, Soundings and Soundings Trade Only magazines, and BoatQuest.com.
Wooton’s journalism career began in newspapers and has spanned more than 30 years. His vocation and his lifelong passion for boats and boating converged in 1987 at Soundings and Soundings Trade Only, where he was a staff writer and copy editor.
From there he moved to Boating as associate technical editor and then to Yachting, where he spent 11 years as senior editor, executive editor and editor-in-chief. Since leaving that title in 2003, he has served as executive editor of ShowBoats International and as U.S. editor of London-based The Superyacht Report. Most recently, he has worked as a freelance writer and editor specializing in superyachts and luxury lifestyle topics. He is a member of the New York Yacht Club and is an avid outdoorsman.
“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to take a respected brand to the next level in a highly competitive market,” Wooton said in a statement. “The yachting industry is emerging from one of the most challenging periods in its history. By providing Yachts International’s readers the highest-quality print and online products available, we intend to help lead the industry to new heights.”
Wooton will be based out of the Yachts International headquarters in Fort Lauderdale and can be reached at (502) 718-4112 or [email protected].
Veteran editor Jill Bobrow will continue in the key role of editor-at-large, focusing on the superyacht segment.
Former editor-in-chief Cecile Gauert is pursuing other endeavors.
