Posted by John Giddy on December 13, 2008 at 21:36:41 user jgiddy.
In Reply to: Re: Captain John's Chronometer and Barometer posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on December 13, 2008 at 20:25:14:
In SD, as allym has pointed out,Peggy holds the Amazon's watch in her hand as does Captain Flint (pp418-9, Cape edn). i.e., these were pocket watches. In modern dinghy racing, the countdown watch is worn on the wrist (or occasionally on the boom...) which leaves both hands free.
Just because Peggy held the watch in her hand doesn't, for me, decisively make it a pocket watch. She was only using it for a short period to help with an accurate start, so it wouldn't have been much of a handicap in the operation of the boat.