Britannia

Designed by GL Watson and built by Hendersons in 1893 for HRH Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, and subsequently loved by King George V, Britannia dominated “the big class” for 40 years.   By the 1930’s the coming of the J Class (with remarkably similar lines to Britannia) made winning too hard and her last race was in 1935.  She was scuttled in 1936 following the King’s death, as was his wish.

Built of timber planking on steel frames she was 121.5 ft overall, 87.8 ft on the waterline and had a displacement of 154 tons.  Sail area was about 10300 sq ft.  This model is displayed with her tallest gaff rig in 1926, though without the jib topsail.  Despite the huge sail area Britannia was known as a heavy weather boat and enjoyed a good blow!

This model is scratch built to 1:32 scale by John Andrews in 2021/3.  Adapted from plans featured in Marine Modelling 1997 by Sandy Cousins.

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