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Brian Whatcott

On Sat, 27 Dec 2008 02:05:19 -0600, (Geoff Miller)
wrote:

For years I've noticed that yachts for sale which are
in very good shape are often described as being in
"Bristol" condition. Why "Bristol?"

Does the English city of Bristol have some significance
in yachting with implications of a vessel's being in
first-class condition? If so, what's the story behind
that?

Geoff

Once upon a time....
A ridiculously small country enforced its control on most countries
of any size in the world. It used its Navy for this specific purpose.
When the cry went out: "Send a gunboat" the ship likely departed from
Bristol, which was an important Admiralty center. The shipbuilders at
Bristol were influenced by the Admiralty to provide excellent ships
and equipment. Bristol was part of the South-west which had something
of a culture of excellence: as an example, the Great Western Railway
had semaphore signals which did not dip to pass traffic, but ROSE, so
that any failure along the wire/rod transmission would result in a
semaphore failing to the Stop position. They went on to utilize
automatic train control, etc., etc.

BrianW