Posted by Peter Ceresole on February 24, 2010 at 19:17:23 user PeterC.
In Reply to: Re: Close-hauled posted by Andy on February 24, 2010 at 15:56:46:
I'm a wee bit dubious about the "C" in this - according to Racundra's First Cruise, Racundra was in build, in her shed, when the Ancient Mariner first saw her, and asked Ransome to be included on any voyages. Would she not have had her name by this point - even, perhaps, while still on paper in the year or so from her designer finishing work?
I can't find anything in the book to say when Racundra was named. But given that apparently it's not a name or a word that arises elsewhere, and that 'Ra' is pretty irresistibly related to 'Ransome', it's a very attractive theory. The objection that Evgenia and he weren't yet married, so the final 'ra' is wrong, may be related to the fact that if they weren't married, he still was- to somebody else- and in those days these things counted. After all, when I read it as a child I was rather thrown by the rather twee references to 'the Cook'. But I agree that 'Carl-und' does feel like a bit of a stretch. However, 'Racundra' is a much sharper name than 'Raundra', had they left him out.
Anyway, boats are often opportunistically named, aren't they? Discussion, brainwave, name. This is a genuine question; I've never named one.