ROYAL YACHTS
Above: Britannia in 1897 Above right: White Rose (with Whisper) the One-Rater built for Prince George by Charles Sibbick in just one week
some racing before his next round of official engagements. To achieve this remarkable feat of boatbuilding, Sibbick appointed Edward Williams as the chief shipwright for White Rose. His men started on the Monday morning and worked in shifts round the clock until she was ready for launching on the Saturday. Two days later, White Rose won her maiden race – according to local myth with the sound of tapping coming from her forefoot as Williams carried out the final finishing touches!
Compared to some of Sibbick’s other raters, she had a low-key racing career, winning 8 flags in 26 starts. Sadly, she was lost four years later along with several other yachts in a fire at Sibbick’s Albert yard in Cowes. When George V inherited Britannia he appointed Sir Philip Hunloke as her sailing master and used her for cruising until 1913 when he finally succumbed to the temptation of racing her. However, the outbreak of World War I brought this to an abrupt halt.
POSTWAR REVIVAL
The revival of yachting after the war proved extremely sluggish, and as the disappointing 1919 season drew to a close, a delegation of yachtsmen sought an audience with the King to persuade him to bring out his beloved Britannia to once more stimulate the regatta circuit. The King was aware this could become a political issue that could undermine the standing of the monarchy itself, even though Britannia was his personal property, funded by his private income. Nevertheless, he instructed Sir Philip Hunloke to prepare her for the 1920 season, hoping this would provide a much-needed boost to the nation’s yacht-building industry by encouraging other owners to order new yachts or refit their existing craft. Fortunately, the gamble paid off and several owners responded by recommissioning their yachts, while Richard Lee placed an order worth £24,000 for the construction of Terpsichore – renamed Lulworth in 1924 – specifically to race against Britannia.
60 CLASSIC BOAT APRIL 2012
The King enjoyed the 27-year-old Britannia’s return to racing and invited Alfred Mylne to design an enlarged rig, with a similar sail area to her original 1893 sail plan, in time for the next season. The rejuvenated yacht proved to be a match for the latest craft in a good breeze and occasionally left them behind in light airs. During the winter of 1930/31 she was re-rigged at Camper & Nicholson to compete alongside the J-Class yachts, with a 20 per cent reduction in her sail area and her gaff rig swapped to bermudan. Despite her age she won 13 flags from 20 starts in the 1931 season.
BRITANNIA’S FINAL YEARS 1935 proved to be Britannia’s final season. Although she failed to win a single prize for the first time in her long career, the King continued to enjoy sailing her and even declined the offer of a replacement yacht for his Silver Jubilee. His only concern was over the lack of prize money for his crew; at the end of the year he topped up their wages from his own pocket.
The death of her second royal owner on 20 January 1936 heralded the beginning of the end for Britannia. None of George’s sons wanted to take her on, so it was announced that in accordance with the late King’s wishes she would be stripped of all her equipment and scuttled. On 24 June 1936, Britannia’s gear was sold by auction, raising £1,050 for the King George’s Fund for Sailors. With a bunch of wild flowers draped over her stem,
Britannia was launched for the last time by Marvin’s yard in Cowes on 8 July 1936. For two days, the empty hulk laid at her buoy in Cowes Roads until she was collected just after midnight by the destroyers HMS Amazon and HMS Winchester. They took her out of a deserted, moonlit Solent and round to the south of the Isle of Wight, where charges were detonated in her bilges to send her to a watery grave, thereby concluding a remarkable chapter in the history of yachting.
Next month: The Elizabethan era: Bluebottle and Bloodhound
BEKEN OF COWES
BEKEN OF COWES
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100