Naming a boat is as personal as naming a baby (even if few male skippers would risk telling the wife that). The culmination of many years of dreaming and penny pinching, the purchase of a boat of any size is a huge event for any sailor, and with that comes serious naming pressure. Many boatowners have a secret fear that someone else got their brilliantly original name first — or ruined it forever by reducing its reputation to snigger-worthy opprobrium. Sometimes it's so difficult to name a boat that skippers are desperate enough to ask the sorts of people who think Boaty McBoatface would be a good choice…
The perfect gift for any skipper or would-be skipper, and featuring hundreds of common and uncommon names, this entertaining little book will answer perhaps the most important question new owners should ask themselves: what will this name say about me? And as everyone knows, once you've named a boat, you never ever change it, so it also answers the question: what is my boat name saying about me right now?
Names will be categorised (and listed alphabetically within these chapters) as to:
— Populist (helpfully yacht insurers release ranked lists of popular names each year, which has revealed some very interesting trends)
— Don't Even Go There (they might be uncommon these days, but sometimes there's a good reason for that)
— Pun Intended (some reveal a classic wit, others reveal just how many desperate unfunny dullards there are sailing around in yachts called Seas the Day)
— A Bit of Pedigree (good names — but probably too classy for you to get away with copying them)
— Common as Muck (bad names — Moondancer, Wave Catcher and others that sound like names from a bad children's novel: where they come from, why they're bad, and how to avoid inventing another)
— Too Much Information (why using a boat to celebrate a bonus/retirement/divorce/second wife tends to be a bad idea a few months down the road)
— The Devil's Own (don't tempt fate by calling your boat Invincible, as the Royal Navy did each time the last one sank/exploded — plus other superstition-violating names)
With fascinating history, a fair bit of psychology and a lot of humour, this is the essential guide for all would-be boat owners, and anyone looking for a dad-type gift on Father's Day or Christmas.

Jonathan Eyers

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