Posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on October 18, 2004 at 10:30:05 from 213.38.124.194 user ACB.
In Reply to: Re: Coarse xxx( formerly Re: Mixed Moss 2004) posted by Peter H on October 17, 2004 at 22:36:37:
Pretentious sailing is making a fuss about it. The late Eric Hiscock identified "cruising without fuss" as the ne plus ultra of small boat seamanship.
Pretentiousness can take many forms, and the standard of pretentiousness has changed during the past century.
The wearing of reefer jackets and white yachting caps, with brass telescopes under the arm, was the standard of pretentious sailing in the 1900's; this is gently mocked in Erskine Childers' "The Riddle of the Sands", a book mentioned in WH.
I do myself possess a reefer jacket, and was introduced to Lawrence Monkhouse whilst wearing same at the "Nancy Blackett" laying up supper last Saturday.
The last yachtsman to be seen wearing a white yachting cap was Sir Alec Rose. I do not think that anyone would dare to suggest that Sir Alec's sailing was "pretentious"!
Nobody at all carries a brass bound telescope.
The wearing, by one's yacht, of a defaced blue ensign is taken by many to be a sign of pretension; I must confess that Bill Wallace-King has not only seen "Mirelle" wearing one, but has taken her helm whilst doing so.
Conversely, the wearing of a red ensign by a yacht is reckoned in some strange way to show affinity with the British Merchant Navy, although, back in the days when there was such a thing as a British Merchant Navy, many British ships wore blue ensigns because their Masters held commissions in the RNR.
My late father said that in the 20's and 30's the wearing of any ensign at all, whilst in home waters was onsidered "tripperish"! "Tripperish" may be much the same thing as "pretentious".