Royal Yacht Squadron -White ensign on bermudanvessel?

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HappyHunter

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LeanderG, a "superyacht" owned, it seems, by the founder of NCP was highly visible in the Solent last weekend (Gunwharf, Yarmouth) flying a White Ensign the size of a large house, no doubt to trumpet his membership of the RYS.

But LeanderG is registered in Hamilton (Bermuda) despite the RYS letters appearing below the port of registry. Those of us with lesser blue ensigns know that the vessel has to be Part 1 or part 3 registered in the UK for a permit to fly a non-standard ensign to be issued. Is the RYS exempt from this?
 
Not sure about the squadron rules, but I spotted it wearing the white, and then a (plain) Red later the same day, so some minion might have some idea of convention.
 
I saw her in Gunwharf wearing the White then the Red and today the White again.
Couldn't understand why they would change the ensign colour unless maybe there was Royalty onboard. Most odd.

Then again there is a MOBO down the pontoon from us & he wears a Red & a Blue ensign.....................................at the same time.
 
You should see the flag in his garden.....

But he does fly a red from his narrow boat..yes he does have one and parks it outside his house and a beauty she is..
 
I can see no justification for flying a white ensign on a non-British registered vessel. Is there a rule allowing vessels registered in British overseas territories to wear British ensigns rather than their own defaced ensigns? Swapping for the red when the RYS warrant holder is not aboard is correct however. It sounds as though he is treating it as a club flag rather than the national ensign.
 
Saw him do the same thing in Mustique a couple of years back. Asked a flunky on the way past what was going on and was told it was flown when he was on board. He is a great friend of the RN and so was slightly disappointed not to get an invite on board as I was flying my RNSA burgee and blue at the time. Maybe my shorts were too scruffy.
 
Sir Donald Gosling is an extremely generous man who regularly contributes a large sums of money to the welfare of sailors in the RN; I know as I have helped administer some of it in the past. As far as I am concerned he can wear whatever ensign he likes - and that's saying something for me as I am normally quite keen on convention.

As it happens the true explanation for the Chameleon like nature of Leander's ensign has already been explained; it depends whether he is on board or not.
 
john_morris_uk said:
Sir Donald Gosling is an extremely generous man who regularly contributes a large sums of money to the welfare of sailors in the RN; I know as I have helped administer some of it in the past. As far as I am concerned he can wear whatever ensign he likes - and that's saying something for me as I am normally quite keen on convention.

As it happens the true explanation for the Chameleon like nature of Leander's ensign has already been explained; it depends whether he is on board or not.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure he has offered the Queen the use of Leander a couple of times in the past, now that she has no boat of her own - I don't know whether or not she's taken him up on it, but perhaps he had visitors when the OP saw her? ;) :D

I saw her (Leander, not Brenda) anchored off Yarmouth a couple of years ago - what a fabulous boat. I think Sir Donald is also ex-RNVR, is he not?
 
The RYS is just a yacht club.Anyone elected to membership is entitled to wear the club ensign, irrespective of nationality or domicile. Forumites display a high degree of generosity and quite right too; is it possible that a little bit of class hatred has crept in?

PS. Sir D G's connection with the RN is that he was, I believe, an Able Seaman during his national service. Good for him.
 
I should know better than get drawn into a flag post!

I am confused as if Leander is registered in Bermuda then isnt the correct ensign the defaced red of Bermuda? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Bermuda.svg

To wear a white ensign with RYS burgee wouldnt she need to be british registered? :confused: Or can a ship be registered in two countries?

In 2005 Leander was one of the reviewing ships at the Fleet Review. Used to be a Leander class of frigates and a HMS Leander.
 
I believe that some (all) registries of British overseas territories are sub sets of the britsh register and cessels so tegistered can fly either the relevant defaced ensign or a plain one. This is certainly the case for Gibraltar and so may well apply to Bermuda too.
 
Sorry for poor typing - YBW is insisting on serving me the mobile version of the board which has no edit functionality and no ability to review more than the last two lines of a post before committing.
 
DavyMac said:
I believe that some (all) registries of British overseas territories are sub sets of the britsh register and vessels so registered can fly either the relevant defaced ensign or a plain one. This is certainly the case for Gibraltar and so may well apply to Bermuda too.
Click to expand...

Bermuda is under the UK administration Area.
 
I think Davymac has the answer here. Registering in Bermuda, or any other of the territories or dependencies, is effectively the same as registering it in the UK except for the obvious tax breaks that make it worthwhile. I believe you can then choose either to fly a plain red, or the defaced national version of the territory in question.

As for Grumpybears assertion that the RYS is just another yacht club, I would be quite interested to know whether non UK nationals are eligible for membership. And even if they are it would be interesting to know whether a warrant to fly the white could be issued to a foreign vessel as technically I believe all RYS yachts are forfeit to be used by the RN if needed in times of war.
 
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