Neither of these boats are mine as I took this shot. During our annual Tulip regatta.
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Good eye there. There are some good shots of boats here but this one has the added interest of another boat crossing it's bow, and another boat under under spinnaker, plus a background pulled in as subject.
None of this would happen in a wide angle lens. A long focal length compresses the distances into a tight group.
But a zoom lens results in a narrow angle of field.
That's where Mark's eye came in: He waited for the interest of the crossing boats, maybe he waited for the spinnaker, too. The background is industrial but from this distance it's interesting subject.
If you don't take the background into consideration, the best you get is a boat on the water. With a long focal length (zoom) and distance from the boat you are shooting, you can make a far shoreline part of the photo.
The photographer here might have scooted around in his shoot boat until he got the light he liked, and waited until the background had the interest of a close and far hill on the horizon. It gives the photo depth, location (North). Was it luck he got the name on the stern? No telling.
Why Cruising World didn't pick the shot for the December page, is a mystery.