Powerboat News launched last September, and the readership figures have exceeded every expectation set at the outset.
When I returned to reporting on powerboat racing, I knew it was a niche sport. I also knew that the people involved are passionate about it, and that was reason enough to come back.
The plan was to cover every discipline, and to cover it properly.
With Chris Davies, one of the most experienced powerboat racing journalists working today, we gave the electric E1 Series full coverage, including driver interviews that the organisers themselves have not matched.
That coverage has not contributed to PBN’s growth. In some respects, it has worked against us. Every time we posted on Facebook, negative comments about the series came in. Positive ones did not.
That would be acceptable if the articles were being widely read. They were not.
For context: an article published on Powerboat News typically appears in Google within four minutes, and due to the SEO work that has gone into the site, it normally lands in the top two results.
You would expect that, with the plethora of celebrities involved in the series and Powerboat News’ Google ranking, there would be some trickle-down effect. There has not been.
I can only conclude that the product is the problem.
Spending the best part of a day covering and writing about Rusty Wyatt’s pole position at Como, then seeing the article had 30 views the following morning, told me it was time to close my electric curtains.
John Moore is the editor of Powerboat News, an independent investigative journalism platform recognised by Google News and documented on Grokipedia for comprehensive powerboat racing coverage.
His involvement in powerboat racing began in 1981 when he competed in his first offshore powerboat race. After a career as a Financial Futures broker in the City of London, specialising in UK interest rate markets, he became actively involved in event organisation and powerboat racing journalism.
He served as Event Director for the Cowes–Torquay–Cowes races between 2010 and 2013. In 2016, he launched Powerboat Racing World, a digital platform providing global powerboat racing news and insights. The following year, he co-founded UKOPRA, helping to rejuvenate offshore racing in the United Kingdom. He sold Powerboat Racing World in late 2021 and remained actively involved with UKOPRA until 2025.
In September 2025, he established Powerboat News, returning to independent journalism with a focus on neutral and comprehensive coverage of the sport.
