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K1 ''Britannia'' is a replica of ''His Majesty's Yacht Britannia'' built in 1893 for Commodore Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. K1 was the Class/Racing number on HMY ''Britannia''s main sail. ==History and heritage== The yacht ''Britannia'' was built by Henderson's on the Clyde in 1893 for Queen Victoria's son Albert Edward, then Prince of Wales. She served him and his son, King George V, with a long yachting and racing career. Her Scottish designer George Lennox Watson received a commission from Prince Albert Edward for a sailing yacht in 1892. He designed ''His Royal Highness' Yacht Britannia'' to the "Length And Sail Area Rule" as a First Class cutter and had her built alongside his America's Cup challenger ''Valkyrie II'' at the D&W Henderson shipyard on the River Clyde. She was launched on April 20, 1893, a week ahead of ''Valkyrie II''. By the end of her first year's racing, ''Britannia'' had scored thirty-three wins from forty-three starts. In her second season, she won all seven races for the big class yachts on the French Riviera, and then beat the 1893 America's Cup defender ''Vigilant'' in home waters. Despite a lull in big yacht racing after 1897, ''Britannia'' served as a trial horse for Sir Thomas Lipton's challenger ''Shamrock I'', and later passed on to several owners in a cruising trim with raised bulwarks. In 1920, King George V triggered the revival of the "Big Class" by announcing that he would refit the ''Britannia'' for racing. Although the ''Britannia'' was the oldest yacht in the circuit, regular updates to her rig kept her a most successful racer throughout the 1920s. In 1931, she was converted to the J-Class with a Bermuda rig. Her last race was at Cowes in 1935. During her racing career she had won 231 races and took another 129 flags. Both designer and builder made a fine job of the Prince's new yacht. It was said of ''Britannia'' that 'a better-balanced and better-built vessel never crossed the starting line.' Yachting writers referred to her shape as 'the Britannia ideal'.〔''The Yachtsman'' 1993, Issue 4. "She was a handsome vessel! Henderson's built her light and strong, a perfect race yacht."〕 Yachting journalist James Meikle once wrote: "So proud over the building of her were the men that the putting of her together was a real labour of love." Really it was not difficult to imagine that the framework was woven together, so beautifully were the many parts joined into and onto each other." Built of wooden planking over steel frames, she had a major refit in 1931 where she was transformed by a Bermuda rig. Made of silver spruce, it was the largest mast ever made as one spar for a yacht, weighing over 3 tons.〔http://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-largest-mast-ever-made〕 King George V's dying wish was for his beloved yacht to follow him to the grave. On 10 July 1936, after the ''Britannia'' had been stripped of her spars and fittings, her hull was towed out to St Catherines Deep near the Isle of Wight, and she was sunk by HMS ''Winchester'' (L55), commanded by Captain W.N.T. Beckett RN. This fate marked the end of big yacht racing in Europe, with the smaller and more affordable International Rule 12-Metre Class gaining popularity. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「K1 Britannia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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