Cruising Sailboat Flag Etiquitte
Windchime, Sat Feb 25 2012, 03:47PM
Cruising Sailboat Flag Etiquitte
There is a “Flag Etiquette” guideline for pleasure craft sailboats.
Country Flag:
The rule of thumb for a country flag is one inch of flag for every one foot of boat length.
So the standard size of a Canadian flag for a MacGregor is 27″x14″.
This is flown off the stern of the boat usually off the backstay (as high as practical).
If you have an “M (with no backstay) you can fly it from a stern transom pole, or from the starboard shroud.
Club Burgee:
Our club burgee should be flown off the starboard shroud.
Courtesy Flag:
If you are in USA waters, you should also fly a USA courtesy flag, flown off the starboard shroud as well.
This flag should be smaller than the Country flag. 18″x10”.
Order of Flags on Shroud:
There is also an order of flags for the shroud.
1) top is US courtesy flag (when is US waters)
2) below that is our club burgee.
3) If you are flying your Canadian Country flag off the shroud as well, this would go on top above all others.
In theory, all flags should be raised at sunrise and then down at sunset. But in reality this is rarely done.
When racing or in a regatta, no flags are flown. With the exception of a stern class flag identifying your race division as assigned by the race committee.
Re: Cruising Sailboat Flag Etiquitte
Windspiration, Wed Feb 29 2012, 09:30AM
Great info. Thanks!
.
