King Edward VIIas a sportsman . glish season of 1895, andthrough the foreign and English seasons of 1896 ; itwas not until the advent of the German Emperorscutter Meteor that it could be said she had been out-built. The Meteor was a very large cutter designed forHis Imperial Majesty by Mr. G. L. Watson, and inmany respects was simply a much larger Britannia. In1897 Britannia went abroad again for the Riviera season,when she again met Ailsa^ and, as usual, in the lightbreezes of the Mediterranean, Ailsa had rather thebetter of it. On returning to England she was laidup temporarily, and fitted o
King Edward VIIas a sportsman . glish season of 1895, andthrough the foreign and English seasons of 1896 ; itwas not until the advent of the German Emperorscutter Meteor that it could be said she had been out-built. The Meteor was a very large cutter designed forHis Imperial Majesty by Mr. G. L. Watson, and inmany respects was simply a much larger Britannia. In1897 Britannia went abroad again for the Riviera season,when she again met Ailsa^ and, as usual, in the lightbreezes of the Mediterranean, Ailsa had rather thebetter of it. On returning to England she was laidup temporarily, and fitted out for the last time as aracing vessel for the Cowes Regatta ot 1897. Shestarted three times, and won two first prizes, one ofwhich was for a match sailed round the Isle of Wightfor the German Emperors Shield against the newcutter-yacht Aurora, which had just been completedfor Sir C. D. Rose. Later on, as mentioned before. King Edward con-stantly used her to sail about in on the Solent during 318 METEOR II. AND BRITANNIA RACING. ?rvr ? • ? ?.?? fv-yw King Edward as a Yachtsman the Cowes week, and she occasionally started inhandicap races, such as the Queens Cup in the RoyalYacht Squadron Regattas ; but, practically speaking,her racing career as the crack English cutter came toan end in the autumn of 1897. Mr. Ratsey was commanded to sail on the Britanniain some of her first races on the Thames, and amongstother stories tells one which shows the coolness withwhich His Majesty was accustomed to comport himself. One day, Mr. Ratsey writes, His Royal Highness wassitting just abaft the companion in a deck-chair readingthe morning papers, Britannia mancEuvring about for thestart. I could not take my eyes away from the Prince,as owing to the heeling of the yacht from side to sidehis chair was constantly on the balance, and he lookedas if he might roll over the side, chair and all, at anymoment. At last the Britannia heeled over still more,to a decidedly dangerous extent, indeed. For
Size: 1715px × 1457px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublisher, booksubjecthorses
