After many years of valiant struggle, it now really looks as if the Replica of the royal cutter BRITANNIA will be launched from Archangel by June of this year (2005) and will then make her way down into Scandinavia after leaving Russia. KTK intends to give her a right royal welcome when BRITANNIA makes her scheduled arrival in Son, the coastal village in the Oslofjord, on 20th August. It is also hoped she will grace the Swedish grand jubilee events in Sandhamn/Saltsjöbaden earlier in July. See the KTK website under MEMBER CLUBS.

Meanwhile, here is a summary of the original royal yacht's history up to the First World War. Her subsequent history, 1919 - 1936, is given in a fuller version.

The cutter BRITANNIA was built on the Clyde in 1893 from the Watson design by the Henderson yard for the Prince of Wales (later king Edward VII). She was of great beauty in her lines, combining sturdiness with grace, and in racing she had amazing success.

Her main measurements were: 123 feet overall length, 88 feet waterline length. Beam (width) 23.3 feet. Draught, 15 feet. She weighed 221 tons; sail area and height of mast changed during her career, but were originally 10,000 square feet and 110 feet respectively. BRITANNIA was composite built (steel frames on mahogany/teak). The royal cutter had ample accommodation below decks, with four sleeping cabins, and a main saloon which could seat a dozen guests. There were also facilities for her full racing crew of up to 30 men. In the course of her long life (1893 - 1936) she underwent several refits, bulwarks were added, the mast and rigging altered, the main boom changed. But none of these modifications were drastic enough to impair the looks of Watson's masterpiece.

In her first season, her main rival was VALKYRIE, built for Lord Dunraven as BRITANNIA's stablemate to challenge for the America's Cup. The two fought a ding-dong battle each time they met. BRITANNIA achieved 33 firsts out of 43 starts, and won in this first season 2250 pounds sterling in prize money - a princely sum in those days! The American yacht NAVAHOE arrived in England just before Cowes Week (early August). BRITANNIA defeated NAVAHOE almost every time they met. To sum up the importance of her first season, BRITANNIA had imposed her "personality" on the yachting scene and stopped the decay of British big-class yachting. She had also defeated the American visitor in British waters, whereas Lord Dunraven's later challenge in America would not be successful.

In her next season, BRITANNIA raced against the America's Cup defender VIGILANT, also visiting Britain, and usually won, thanks to a favourable time allowance.

The seasons 1896 and 1897 were marked by the Yacht Racing Association's decision to allow yachts of vastly different size to join the class. The German Emperor Wilhelm now seized his opportunity, and chose BRITANNIA's creator, G.L. Watson, to design a faster yacht if he could. This METEOR II quickly made her mark, defeating BRITANNIA on several occasions, but even so BRITANNIA, with a 11 minute time allowance over a 50 mile course, won the German Emperor's shield at Cowes outright in 1897. This marked the climax of BRITANNIA's racing career under the ownership of the Prince of Wales.

When Edward became King in 1901, upon Queen Victoria's death, as the King's yacht BRITANNIA was used for taking the royal party cruising in the Solent at the time of Cowes week. In 1910 King Edward died and was succeeded by George V. King George V was a keen sailor, having earlier been a serving officer in the Royal Navy.
His Majesty started racing BRITANNIA in 1913, but her new racing career was cut short by the outbreak of the First World War in early August (Cowes Week 1914 was spoilt). However, having been laid up for the duration of the war, BRITANNIA was amazingly quickly made ready for an exciting new career in "Big Class" racing.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

In 2001 I wrote out a draft of the BRITANNIA story in four parts based on the books of John Irving ("The Kings' BRITANNIA", published 1937) and Brooke Heckstall-Smith ("The BRITANNIA and her contemporaries", 1929). My interest in the subject was aroused by the news that the replica BRITANNIA was being built up in Archangel and would hopefully soon be on her way right round from the arctic coast of Russia to the west coast of Norway.

I wanted to find out how important the royal cutter had been to British yachting and the history of yacht design. My aim was to simplify, because these two books go into elaborate detail about the many modifications to the hull and rigging throughtout the yacht's long career from 1893 - 1936. Likewise the ever-changing handicap/rating rules under which she raced are extraordinarily complicated. Part 3, 1901-1914, "A cruising interlude and the start of a new racing career" was published in CYN (Classic Yachts of Norway) Magazine 2002.