TALITHA, THE JUBILEE AND HER FUNNELS

You have to hand it to the Captain and crew of Talitha when it comes to doing their bit for Jubilee spirit and all that. Eschewing the easy option of a bit of bunting or a poster, they settled for a discreet ( only about 2 metres across ) and tastefully desaturated Union flag painted on the top of the forward funnel, visible only to  passing birds and photographers in light aircraft ( thank you Shelley Barron ).

Talitha's funnels have an interesting history all of their own. During her rebuild at Devonport in the mid 1990s, Bannenberg Snr drew two funnels to replace the single original on Jezebel as she was previously.The dimensions of the aft one ( and therefore both ) were set by the Jodrell Bank-sized satellite dish which was the cutting edge in those days. The forward funnel hid ( and still does ) the main generator exhausts as well as the radar array, and Devonport had to construct the funnels with this radar transparency in mind.

So handsome were these funnels that Vogue commissioned a photo shoot by the renowned Koto Bolofo and here you can see a model dressed for everyday life on board, down to 7" heels and a ricepaper parasol.

Fast forward a few years and the funnels needed to be replaced, so the opportunity was taken to put them on a diet and a pair of slightly leaner ones were put in place, taking advantage of less massive satellite dish requirements. There was still room, however, for the Captain's bag of golf clubs. Or so I am told.