High'n'Dry
New member
Morning all, what is the most common size of red ensign to fly on a 41' yacht? I'm moving up from a smaller yacht so I don't have one to refer to.
Many thanks.
Many thanks.
Ensign size
- Thread starter High'n'Dry
- Start date
Neeves
Well-known member
How big is you ensign staff?
Jonathan
Jonathan
Wansworth
Well-known member
If the yacht has a graceful counter an ensign that just kisses the water,if one of those yachts with everything but the kitchen sink lashed to the rail about 18 inches in the fly……or like Spanish yachts where ensigns are flown by law the smallest you can find and leave it up 24/7
capnsensible
Well-known member
If you are Dutch you can have one the size of Holland, apparently.
laika
Well-known member
mjcoon
Well-known member
I think Tom Cunliffe expressed his opinion that it should be just too small to dangle in the water. (I think it was the ensign he was talking about...)
PeterBoater
Active member
Depending on the length of the ensign staff, one inch of ensign for every foot of boat length is one generally accepted rule of thumb.
LittleSister
Well-known member
I find over-sized ensigns gross.
Yes, they look lovely on some handsome traditional USA or Netherlands yachts, but on an AWB?
More importantly, it's inconsistent with the good taste and understatement rightly expected of us Brits.
Yes, they look lovely on some handsome traditional USA or Netherlands yachts, but on an AWB?
More importantly, it's inconsistent with the good taste and understatement rightly expected of us Brits.
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Wansworth
Well-known member
Size isn’t everything ,the color counts as only the Brit’s knowI find over-sized ensigns gross.
Yes, they look lovely on some handsome traditional USA or Netherlands yachts, but on an AWB?
More importantly, it's inconsistent with the good taste and understatement rightly expected of us Brits.
Skylark
Well-known member
LittleSister
Well-known member
Only the Stars and Stripes has 'color', the Red Ensign has colour.
Is that why a red ensign can still look good when somewhat faded by weather and use, whereas a faded Stars and Stripes just looks a mess?
Wansworth
Well-known member
Pendant?
westhinder
Well-known member
No you can’t, dragging it through the water is a definite no-no. It is supposed to be just above the water when there is no wind.
If your yacht is big enough, that may mean an ensign the size of a bedsheet ?
KevinV
Well-known member
If we're being pendulous....
As Holland (North or South) is one of twelve provinces of the Netherlands, an ensign the size of Holland would fulfill this criterium perfectly...
Suitably understated methinks...
File:Oranda Fune no zu = Depiction of a Dutch Ship ..jpg - Wikimedia Commons
LittleSister
Well-known member
I seem to remember that the correct official proportions of the Netherlands maritime ensign are different from most of (all?) other countries (length closer to height than ours). So those affected will need a taller ensign staff for the bottom corner to reach near the water.
And also, that in the era from which the current Netherlands flag is derived (e.g. the picture above) some Dutch ships' ensigns were different colours (orange, white and blue?) from that which became, er, standard.
And also, that in the era from which the current Netherlands flag is derived (e.g. the picture above) some Dutch ships' ensigns were different colours (orange, white and blue?) from that which became, er, standard.
LittleSister
Well-known member
Put out more flags!
(We need more windage. )
(We need more windage.
)
johnalison
Well-known member
I think it is the UK ensign that is atypical, being, I believe, 1:1.5 as against 1:1.25. This is why the Dutch appear to have large ensigns, because the flag of the same length as ours looks and is bigger. The appropriate size can also depend on where the ensign is flown from and whether the pole is sloped or near vertical. I prefer the staff to arise from the deck, as in ours below, but on our last boat, a Sadler, the staff came from the pushpit and a large flag would have been inappropriate. If anything, I prefer to see a large ensign to the little apology of a flag such as sometimes seen on charter yachts. I think ours is about right, apart from the corner that is fraying.
High'n'Dry
New member
Many thanks for all your comments, much appreciated!
I'm going to go with the RYA advice:
The general guideline for the size of Ensign used to be an inch per foot of yacht, but on many modern yachts this is found to be a little on the small side for the vessel to look "well dressed". Roughly speaking a 3/4 yard Ensign should look right on a boat of 21-26 ft, 1 yard for 27- 34 ft, 1 1/4 yard for 35 - 42 ft, 1 1/2 yard for 43 - 50 ft and 1 3/4 yard for 51 - 60 ft, but some discretion may need to be applied.
I'm going to go with the RYA advice:
The general guideline for the size of Ensign used to be an inch per foot of yacht, but on many modern yachts this is found to be a little on the small side for the vessel to look "well dressed". Roughly speaking a 3/4 yard Ensign should look right on a boat of 21-26 ft, 1 yard for 27- 34 ft, 1 1/4 yard for 35 - 42 ft, 1 1/2 yard for 43 - 50 ft and 1 3/4 yard for 51 - 60 ft, but some discretion may need to be applied.
Neeves
Well-known member
Er......?
And for those of us with 2 hulls, or and maybe topical .... what about RumPilot's trimaran.
I like the idea of dual use for items, even 3 uses if you use your imagination so I thought maybe I could use the ensign as a bedspread, but only after sunset and before dawn. Iit appears unless we owners of proper yachts can add our hull lengths together it will be far too small for a bedspread and maybe only useful to dry the crystal wine glasses.
Jonathan
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
Us multihullers go partly by rig size. Thats mostly what you see when the boat is in her element. We have a 1 1/4 yd ensign, our rig is at least as big as a 40 footer, plus the boat being 25ft wide makes a difference too. Whilst going too large seems ostentatious, being too small is either apologetic or a little insulting. So, though we”re only 35ft including bowsprit, only 30 without, having a 13 metre luff square top main seems to need something a little larger. I seem to recall we had a 1 yard on our F27Er......?
And for those of us with 2 hulls, or and maybe topical .... what about RumPilot's trimaran.
I like the idea of dual use for items, even 3 uses if you use your imagination so I thought maybe I could use the ensign as a bedspread, but only after sunset and before dawn. Iit appears unless we owners of proper yachts can add our hull lengths together it will be far too small for a bedspread and maybe only useful to dry the crystal wine glasses.
Jonathan
