“Talking Sailing” From My Archives. Of Kings and Princes

King George V at the wheel of his yacht Britannia in 1924.

by Richard Crockett

Of more than passing interest right now is talk of Royalty especially as the Brits have a new King.

I uncovered some interesting pics of Royalty in my archives in the last few days so it’s appropriate to share them immediately.

Few words are needed as some have long captions, while others are simply “good old pics” worth enjoying and savouring as they depict King George V helming ‘Britannia’, a very young Prince Charles and HRH Prince Philip.

His Majesty’s Yacht ‘Britannia’ was a gaff-rigged cutter built in 1893 for the Royal Yacht Squadron Commodore Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. She served both himself and his son King George V with a long racing career. King George V’s dying wish was for his beloved yacht to follow him to the grave. On 10 July 1936, after ‘Britannia’ had been stripped of her spars and fittings, her hull was towed out to St Catherine’s Deep near the Isle of Wight, and she was sunk by ‘HMS Winchester’.

‘Bluebottle’ was a wedding present from the ‘Island Sailing Club’ to Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh and remained ‘The Royal Dragon’ until 1962. Isn’t ‘Bluebottle a wonderful name for a yacht?

And more of interest to Flying 15 yachties are the pics of ‘Coweslip’ – the Flying 15 given to Her Majesty The Queen and Prince Philip as a wedding present in 1949.

Enjoy these wonderful old pics, and please LIKE, SHARE and COMMENT.

The Queen with her family at Windsor Castle. With a cannon of a bygone age, the Royal Family posed on the East Terrace looking towards Home Park. 6 June 1959.
The 1957 Royal Regatta is now in progress at Cowes. Among the expert yachtsmen taking part is HRH Prince Philip, who has been joined at Cowes by HRH Prince Charles. The young Prince is spending his holiday at Cowes with his father, instead of taking the customary Royal Holiday at Balmoral.
Here Prince Philip lends a helping hand to his son Prince Charles as he jumps while transferring from the Royal Barge to the yacht ‘Bluebottle’. Alistair Easton, Prince Philip’s sailing master stretches out a hand to steady the young Prince. Also on ‘Bluebottle’ is Uffa Fox the yacht designer.
3 August 1960. The opening of the Cowes Yachting Week – Prince Philip sails his yacht ‘Coweslip’.
The photo shows Prince Philip and his companion Uffa Fox duck their heads beneath the sail of their Flying Fifteen ‘Coweslip’ during the racing at Cowes yesterday.
Prince Philip and his sailing partner Uffa Fox (left) bale out the Duke’s Flying Fifteen ‘Coweslip’ as the water-logged yacht was tied up at a jetty at Cowes after capsizing in a squall. It was towed ashore by launch. On the jetty the Duke had a narrow escape when the boom of a crane attempting a lift snapped under the weight and crashed on the jetty only a foot or so away from Prince Philip. The girl at the left is not identified.
With Schoolmaster Geoffrey Budden (a friend of Uffa Fox) as tutor, Princess Alexandra spent a hazardous half hour in the choppy bay near the Royal Yacht Britannia learning the ropes of sailing on Coweslip, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Flying Fifteen.

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