- Does your burgee fly from the starboard spreader, in the face of nautical tradition?

- What is the correct flag arrangement for “dressing ship”? (Yes, they’re supposed to droop into the water.)

The answers to these and other vital questions in this invaluable guide to the traditions and etiquette of yachts and those who sail them.

Since they are flash cards they don’t explain everything but there is a lot of good, if brief, information on some of the cards where necessary.

One nice feature is that the cards are divided into three sections, beginning, intermediate and advanced and then color coded. That makes it easy to progress at a reasonable rate.

Anyway, it’s a nice book, if not terribly informative. So, buy it if you really like older boats, or if, like me, you’re a fan of designer Bruce King. Or for some subjective, quirky reason of your own.

My purpose for buying the book was to get ideas while restoring my own classic yacht. For this purpose the book is inspiring and full of ideas to copy. Although, the excellent wood work inside these boats will humble anyone with a saw. For my purpose, I still prefer the author’s first book, Classic Yacht Interiors. The previous book contains a wider range of vessels and much easier to implement ideas on more affordable boats.

The presentation in order of yacht name, rather than designer, is interesting and does not detract. The addition of line drawings and more technical specifications would have rounded out the presentation.

The inclusion of new “classics” is welcome and demonstrates that traditional skills are alive and well in many parts of the world. In this vain, I would have appreciated a wider representation. Some magnificant wooden vessels are being constructed ( either entirely of wood or with wooden decks and interiors) in parts of the world other than the USA, the Med and the UK,upon which the book concentrates. Notable in this regard are New Zealand and Tasmania (a State of Australia). Some of the worlds finest boat building timbers are found in Tasmania and this is reflected in yachts constructed there; particularly the carvel planked yacht.

The cover price represnts good value. Even my children, aged eight and six years found the photographs stunning and sat quietly for a considerable time, slowly flipping the pages.

Anyone who is interested in Art, Yachting, or Photography will find great enjoyment in a quiet read.

Sailing can be an expensive, difficult, and frustrating pastime, and this book pokes fun at all of the difficulties in its definitions of common nautical terms. Irreverent, witty, and sometimes too true, I sat around with friends reading definitions from this book and at times we were laughing so hard we couldn’t go on.

William F. Buckley wasn’t exaggerating when he said that this was the funniest book that he ever read and he quoted extensively from “Beard and McKie” in his sailing books. This book is a must-have for any sailor, and even non-sailors can appreciate much of the humor in this book.