Although F.O. Mason has not yet been identified, Major Sir Philip Hunloke, G.C.V.O. (1868-1947) was one of the most prominent members of the yachting fraternity in the golden decades between the two World Wars. A former officer in the Royal Horse Guards who served in the Boer and Great Wars, he became Groom-in-Waiting to George V after the Coronation in 1911 and stayed in the royal service until the King died in 1936. An enthusiastic and highly accomplished yachtsman, Hunloke was appointed King's Sailing Master in 1913, after which he had charge of the celebrated royal cutter Britannia for the rest of her days, until she was withdrawn after the end of the 1935 season and scuttled after George V's death. Although by then retired from competitive racing, Hunloke was appointed Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1943 and held the post for four years until his death in 1947.