Burgee Etiquette

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Babylon

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Does anyone hoist their club burgee to the masthead anymore?
If hoisted up a signal halyard, port or sbd?
Leave it up all the time, or drop it before leaving the boat?
 
Some clubs require you to fly your burgee from the masthead. Usually the more prestigious ones though. Most clubs are happy with the starboard spreader (switch to port if you need a courtesy flag).

You should really take it down when leaving the boat. Only if to stop it wearing away when it's not really needed.
 
Actually the Burgee should be in the second senior position to to the Ensign, which is the masthead or starboard spreader if the masthead is not available. But so should a courtesy flag and I think that 'those who write these rules' gave up at that point because there is no resolution to the contradiction (at least there wasn't on th RYA web site when I last looked).

I do what most others seem to do, ie put my burgee on the port side and leave the starboard side of the courtesy flags and/or Q.

And I'm ashamed to admit I leave the Burgee and the Ensign up all the time I'm on board as the damn Ensign staff has swollen up and is stuck in and its far too far to the mast after a couple of rums to pull down the burgee.
 
My (prestigious?) yacht club does require the burgee to be at the masthead, ie above windex, VHF et al. Until you go aloft to measure things up you don't appreciate how big the masthead clutter is. The VHF alone is nearly one metre long! So the burgee has to be approx 2 metres above masthead to avoid an aerial lashing relationship. As I still hoist mine up on a stick (well, two fishing rods actually) this has to be at least three metres long!! Getting it up, so to speak, is a difficult task on a still day and near impossible on a windy one. So later this winter I am hoping to get up there with a small singhy mast and bolt the bl**dy thing to the side of the mast top.

Never underestimate the competitive urge to overcome a challenge, even if the challenge is peculiar.

Oh, and I believe that warrant holders are meant to "wear" their blue ensigns only if flying (or is it also wearing?) the burgee correctly.
 
Thanks all for the advice.

I've been running it up the sbd signal halyard so far. Only left it up there last weekend, yer honor, because we was rushing to get the boat put away before leaving the mooring... and maybe a few weeks up in the elements will help stop it looking so blinking brand new!
 
I was lead to believe that its also tradition to lower the Ensign at Dusk, or have things moved on since I used to do this with my parents many moons ago? Well Vessels not under way that is.
 
Mine stays up also. The original reason for taking it down at night was an economics one, Samuel Pepys, when he was at the admiralty, found out the ensigns of the day lasted three times as long if they were taken down at last light.
I have heard other reasons, since, like it is to show respect to lost merchant seamen etc. But mine stays up. Also just an etiquete thing.
But as you say, life is way too short.
 
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I was lead to believe that its also tradition to lower the Ensign at Dusk...

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Ensign certainly gets lowered at dusk, just didn't know whether etiquette required the burgee to also come down at dusk and when not aboard.
 
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Yes - unless the damn thing is stuck in its holder!!

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You need to get one of those fancy jobs which are in every chandler's now with a brass capsule around the base to stop them swelling.
 
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Yes - unless the damn thing is stuck in its holder!!

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Ooh Err!!

I actually have my flagstaff permanently fixed, so I remove the Ensign from the staff halyard each evening. Helps with dipping too.
 
In the days when I did these things professionaly thetiming of colours and sunset was very precis but these days it is when I remeber and as the dementia kicks in one remebers less.
 
As another member of a traditional club with Royal warrant, I am reliably informed that the burgee MUST be in a superior position to all other signals (ie at the masthead) when the defaced ensign is worn. I am also required to lower the Ensign at sunset (or 9pm). In general, I furl it round the mast & tuck it in overnight so it isn't flying. I have always removed all such emblems when I go ashore as they will not last a season if I don't.

Yes, it is a bit of a hassle, but I like the club, it is very friendly, and the Ensign does look great, even on an old tub like mine. UK has a very rich maritime tradition, I like being a small part of that too.

I have no problem with those who don't like defaced Blue's, but those who believe that all people flying them are "snobs" only reveal their own predjudices.
 
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.... burgee to be at the masthead, ie above windex, VHF et al....

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I don't think that "at" the mast head requires the burgee to be hoisted above the mast head. There is nothing wrong with the long pole, but in my case I have the VHF, an anemometer and a SeaMe all on stand-offs, a tricolour (on a fibre-glass pole so that it is above the Sea-Me) and a windex. Add to that, Restless has a mast-head rig with 5 halliards and the topping lift all at the mast head.

My solution is to have a small block at the end of the VHF stand-off and hoist the burgee to there. It is far enough away from the mast for the burgee to fly, and avoids the problem of a long pole getting entangled.

John
 
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