Three Sheets in the Wind: Thelwell's Manual of Sailing

by Norman Thelwell

The perfect gift for any sailor who has misinterpreted a distress signal, worn stilettos on board, abandoned ship, or experienced irreparable damage to their social status at the club. Norman Thelwell was a keen observer of the foibles of the British at work and play. He is best known for his small, round and hairy ponies and their small, equally round little girl owners.

Genres: Humor, Comics, Fiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Norman Thelwell was an English cartoonist well-known for his humorous illustrations of ponies and horses. A promising young student from Liverpool College of Art, he soon became a contributor to the satirical magazine Punch in the 1950s, and earned many lasting devotees by illustrating Chicko in the British boys' comic Eagle.

Known to many only as Thelwell, he found his true comic niche with Pony Club girls and ponies refusing fences, a subject for which he became best-known. His cartoons and drawings delighted millions.

For the last quarter of a century of his life he lived in the Test Valley at Timsbury, near Romsey, gradually restoring a farm house and landscaping the grounds which gave rise to his first factual book, A Plank Bridge by a Pool, which detailed the first two lakes he dug there. A third lake was later featured on the BBC’s South Today programme. Written much earlier, but published three years later, A Millstone Round My Neck described his experiences in re-building a Cornish water mill (Addicroft Mill at Liskeard, which he called Penruin), that was sold before the book was published. He always loved old buildings, and in his auto-biography, Wrestling with a Pencil wrote about his joy in the beauty of old cottages.

Reviews

[Valerie]

The best part of many Thelwell books is what amounts to illustrated glossaries. The terms are pedestrian, but the drawings are often very funny.

[Jane Riordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

When going through my 'pony' phase, as many young girls do, in the 1970's, I LOVED the Thelwell books on all things horsey - they were right on point, hilariously illustrated and just fun; I may even still have one in a bookcase somewhere for old times sake.

This book about sailing was in the library on our cruise ship although, to be honest, it is aimed more at the sailing club member or the dingy owner than the cruise ship passenger - perhaps cruise ship passengers were not so prevalent in the 1970's.

I would say it has passed the test of time - the humour still stands and the illustrations are clever.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of cartoons related to sailing.

Some of cartoons were amusing, but none of them made laugh out loud (but I am not a sailor). The cartoons definitely had an ‘old’ feel to them.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

idk i guess last thelwell i wasn't in the mood

[^ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the ideal companion for anyone who’s been hauled off for a weekend’s sailing; or for the racing during Cowes Week. Looking at pp.86-87: is that a liner heading into Southampton? Anywhere round Britain will do; we Brits are a seafaring nation, after all.

Good for promoting animated conversation in any waterside pub. I loved the cartoon (p.68): of a couple in their yacht riding a very squally sea in a storm; turning to one another to observe, “If anyone hears the engine we’ll be ostracised at the club”! Terribly British (or as was, thirty years ago).

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect gift for any sailor who has misinterpreted a distress signal, worn stilettos on board, abandoned ship, or experienced irreparable damage to their social status at the club. Norman Thelwell was a keen observer of the foibles of the British at work and play. He is best known for his small, round and hairy ponies and their small, equally round little girl owners.

[Annette McIntyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Norman Thelwell explains common sailing terms in a very humourous way with illustrations of what they mean.