The King's Yacht Britannia

This isn't the best view in the world but it is the closest the public can get at the moment to the building of a replica of King George Vs racing yacht Britannia

When King George V died in 1936, his will requested that his huge yacht, the Britannia winner of many ocean races should follow him to the grave. So her hull was towed out to St. Catherine’s Deep near Ventnor in the Isle of Wight and scuttled.

However in 1994 an exact replica of Britannia was commissioned and built in Russia, after gaining the Queen's blessing. Her then owner shipped her from Russia to Norway but unfortunately the completion of the project came to a standstill.

It was not until late 2011 that Britannia was acquired by the K1 Charitable Trust for the purpose of completing her rebuild. Britannia was towed from Norway and arrived in the Isle of Wight on 4th February 2012 where she was lifted and dry-docked in her cradle.

Recently the structure which had hidden the yacht was removed and we can now get some idea of the size and elegance of these magnificent vessels from a time long gone.

She is being rebuilt by the trust according to her 1931 specifications when the original Britannia was refitted with a Bermudan rig and converted to the J Class and when complete will be used for charitable purposes.