Proper Size of Yacht Ensign

[SeniorSailor]

Under way, a gaff-rigged boat carries the yacht ensign at the top of the leech. Does anyone know the correct ratio between the height of the yacht ensign and the length of the leech?

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Oho, an ensign thread!

The ensign should be hauled right up to the gaff, not anywhere lower than that.

As to size, I seem to recall having been told that one inch of length of ensign, per foot of length of boat, is roughly right. It looks OK to me.

There is a Special Award waiting for anyone who works out a way to ensure that the flag halyards do not wrap themselves round anything when hoisting or lowering singlehanded - "anything" includes the topsail sheet, of course!

[paladin]

uh...I thought it wuz one inch per inch of waterline... but.....how'sa bout starch and then sew a 1/4 inch steel rod around the perimeter like they dood with the one they planted on the moon....

[Ed Burnett]

Well, you can pull the flag halyard out completely just before you drop the main. Does that qualify me for half the special prize?

One of my clients insisted on a special cringle a few feet down the leech of the main so the ensign could be hitched on (between this and the peak) before hoisting and left to its own devices while the sail was set. I suppose this would leave you short a few options in terms of flag etiquette but it does away with the wretched halyard altogether.

[ErikH]

hey, don't make fun of those cringles... nobody notices when you're raising/lowering and it sure is easy and looks good under sail. IMHO they're the way to go (though rather than put a cringle in my nice sail, I just sewed on a small loop of webbig and tied into that, in case the next owner preferred the agony of a "proper" halyard)

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

"Disgusted of Lymington" (or Burnham on Crouch) would doubtless be horrified, but what a neat idea that loop sewn onto the leach is!

Coming down, the flag halyard can be useful as a way of corralling the gaff, but going up it will find its way round a cockpit cleat, etc!

My late father, whose sailing career ran from 1919 to 1985, always said that, in the pre-WW2 era, the wearing of any ensign at all, in home waters, was considered "tripperish" - a truly damning term of contempt!

Having said which I have a photo of him, aged 80, at the helm of "Mytica", all 2 1/2 tons of her, with yard topsail set and...an ensign at the gaff!

[NormMessinger]

Um, Andrew? Is that one inch per foot of waterline on the hoist or on the fly? I think I read somewhere it was on the hoist so Prairie Islander gets a flag 20" and 30" long. Bigger is better than smaller to the exact ratio.

Or so I've read. I confess I have not hoisted the flag I have. I'm more concerned about more lines to tangle as I raise and lower the mast than I am about being "all American all the time."

[Dave R]

I don't know about size but I thought I'd post this picture.
http://www.messing-about.com/photopost/data/500/19resol_surp1.jpg
Surpise has the ensign clipped to the peak and a cringle ala Mr. Burnett's post.

[htom]

Proper ratio of hoist:fly for all of the US ensigns is 10:19, but 5:8 is frequently used.

The fly should be one inch for each foot of length of the craft, or each foot of waterline length, depending on whatever; it's not related to the length of the leech.

I would think that the diagonal of the flag would have to be less than half of the leech to have it display properly when the craft was not moving.