Late-Victorian sightseers at Hurst Castle would have been in for quite a spectacle during Cowes Week, for among the competitors racing through the Hurst Narrows was the royal yacht. While Queen Elizabeth II’s HMY Britannia, the last of 83 royal yachts, was synonymous with pomp and ceremony, her predecessor – and namesake – was in it for the glory.

Commissioned by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) in 1892, the 121ft gaff-rigged cutter was built on the River Clyde in the space of just four months, for the princely sum of £8,300.

Despite the speed of her construction, Britannia was in a class of her own from the outset, winning 24 out of 43 races in her first season alone. The following year, after an unbeaten run on the French Riviera, she moved back north to Cornish waters where she triumphed over the America’s Cup defender, Vigilant.

Within five years, the yacht had 219 races under her belt, but when her prowess was threatened by the German Meteor II, she was sold by her royal owner. Reprieve, though, was rapid: by 1902 Britannia was back in royal hands, and there she remained, her sleek black hull and beautiful lines gracing many a royal cruise.

With the death of Edward VII in 1910, his yacht passed to his son, the new George V, but after just two seasons the Great War put an end to such costly pursuits, and Britannia was laid up at Cowes on the River Medina. It was not until 1919 that the king decided to refit his vessel and thus kickstart a revival of the Big Class of boats.

Not least among those that rose to the challenge was the American-owned Westward, which came up against Britannia on many an occasion.  Among these was Cowes Week in 1920 when, with George V himself at the helm, Britannia beat her rival by only a fraction over a minute.  These were truly the glory years for such magnificent racing machines, and Britannia certainly held her own.

Yacht design, though, moved on apace, and by the early 1930s the lighter J Class boats were taking the honours. Despite a refit to a matching Bermuda rig in 1932, with an exceptionally tall wooden mast, Britannia’s winning streak was over, and her final race was in 1935.  Just months later, on 20 January 1936, the ailing George V died at his Sandringham estate.

After winning 231 races over 42 years, the king’s beloved yacht was – at his request – stripped of her spars and fittings and towed south of the Isle of Wight into the English Channel, where she was scuttled with a simple wreath of flowers in the aptly named waters of St Catherine’s Deep.