His Majesty's Yacht Britannia racing the victorious American J-class yacht Yankee off Cowes, during the Round the Island Race of 1935

Britannia was built in 1983 for His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. Britannia was a successful racing yacht winning more than 200 races. In this particular race, the great American yacht, Yankee, beat her. She was also beaten once by U.S. yacht Navahoe, one of Herreshoff's boats, however, she fared much better against America's Cup yacht, Vigilant, winning twelve races out of seventeen. When Britannia was converted to race J-Class, she was stripped of bulwarks, giving a one-piece mast and a Bermudian main sail. She performed her best in hard weather. Yankee was built in 1930. She had a hull of bronze and a thin and bulb keel. Yankee's mast was a massive 150ft from her deck. She also had a double-clewed jib developed by Ratsey and Lapthorn of Cowes. This design of jib stopped the main sail from being backwinded, allowing the airflow to escape through the lee of the main sail. Both Britannia and Yankee were superb racing crafts, designed and built thus making them two of the most beautiful yachts ever to have sailed in the history of yacht racing.