ROYAL YACHTS
COURTERY OF ROYAL THAMES YACHT CLUB
BEKEN OF COWES
Above: Victoria & Albert, from which the young Prince of Wales witnessed the America’s Cup races in 1851 Above right top: Aline, owned by the Prince 1882-1895 Above right lower: His first yacht, Dagmar, 1866-71
before being purchased by the Prince of Wales in 1882. Despite her racing pedigree, he mainly cruised her until he sold her to Prince Ibrahim Halim Pasha in 1895. Aline’s successor became one of the best known yachts of all time and clearly demonstrated the positive impact of Royal patronage by triggering a revival in yachting on two separate occasions. The first occurred in the wake of the dismal 1892 season when the ‘big class’ was represented by just two unevenly matched yachts. Many predicted the imminent demise of the class until the Prince of Wales and the Earl of Dunraven announced their intention to build two new racing yachts. The Earl’s was Valkyrie II, with which he planned to contest the America’s Cup, while the Prince’s
new royal cutter would provide some credible opposition in home waters. She was to be called Britannia. Others swiftly followed suit, with Mr A D Clarke ordering Satanita from Fay & Co, Peter Donaldson giving the Clyde-based J & A Inglis the go-ahead for the construction of Calluna and the American yachtsman Phelps Carroll announcing that his new yacht Navanhoe would cross the Atlantic to compete at Cowes Week.
WATSON-DESIGNED GL Watson drafted the lines for Britannia and Valkyrie II. The pair were built side by side on the banks of the Clyde at David and William Henderson’s yard in Partick, Glasgow. As completed, the 121ft (36.9m) Britannia was powered by a gaff rig that boasted a maximum sail area of 10,327sqft (959.4m2
). Her composite construction
Above: 1851 America’s Cup: Queen Victoria on board the schooner America, greeted by Commodore John C Stevens. From an oil painting by C Chase Emerson
58 CLASSIC BOAT APRIL 2012
consisted of steel frames covered by pitch-pine and American-elm planking with cedarwood topsides. Down below, she could accommodate her owner and crew in some comfort. The interior layout included four sleeping cabins, a spacious saloon, galley, pantry, a bathroom complete with full-size bath, and a 20ft (6.1m) long fo’c’s’le for the majority of her crew, with 13 folding cots and space for four hammocks. The fittings were of polished yellow pine and mahogany throughout with tapestries and cretonnes above the polished wood dado. To achieve Britannia’s full potential on the regatta circuit, the Prince appointed William Jameson as her sailing master and professional yachtsman John Carter as her first captain. They became a formidable double act with Carter at Britannia’s tiller while Jameson dictated the strategy. Under the appreciative gaze of the Prince of Wales, they began their partnership on the River Thames with victory in Britannia’s first race on 25 May 1893.
PPL
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