MyHomeHarbor.com Named Website of the Month by SAIL Magazine; Membership Up 500 Percent

SAN DIEGO - MyHomeHarbor, a site designed by sailors, for sailors, has been named SAIL Magazine’s website of the month. According to SAIL, “MyHomeHarbor.com could become a significant online community and an asset to Internet-savvy sailors around the globe.” In addition to SAIL, MyHomeHarbor has appeared in Latitude 38, The Log, Good Old Boat’s newsletter, and others.

MyHomeHarbor.com has been called MySpace with sails. SAIL Magazine says, “Think of MyHomeHarbor.com as a sailing version of the outrageously popular Web forum MySpace.” MyHomeHarbor is a site designed by sailors, for sailors. Visitors can sign up for free to create their own home pages, focused on racing or cruising (or both). The site’s user-friendly interface lets them tell their latest stories, post photos of their trips, communicate with other members via online forums, and more. Like MySpace, the site is driven by the members who contribute content and make the site their own. MyHomeHarbor.com also includes the latest news, online classifieds, maritime weather, and an online store.

MyHomeHarbor.com membership increased 500% in the first quarter of 2007, thanks to members who promote it to their own sailing acquaintances and increased public attention from media such as SAIL Magazine.

“We’re very excited about the growth. We have members joining from all over the world and the site is taking on a life of its own. The members use it to enhance their sense of community with other sailors and create their own space online,” said founder and life-long sailor John Laidlaw. “That’s what originally inspired me to create the site and I’m glad to see that vision become a reality.”

Laidlaw founded the site after noticing an unmet need in the sailing community. “Having made many passages myself, I was always looking for a quick and easy way to keep my friends and family up-to-date on my travels. I thought, ’there must be other people who have this same need.’”

From the home page at www.myhomeharbor.com, visitors simply follow the step-by-step instructions to sign up. Members receive their own email address, address book, and web-based email, plus an automatic update feature to inform their friends when they upload new photos or stories.

Racers will appreciate the ability to create a race calendar and send automatic invitations to their chosen crew members, who can RSVP through the site to confirm they’ll be available to race.

Laidlaw also plans to continue adding more features to the site as it evolves. “With millions of sailors around the world, there’s really no limit to how large and diverse our community can become,” said Laidlaw. “I think we’ve only begun to see how large the online community movement will become, and I am excited to see MyHomeHarbor grow with it.”