"Vigilant and Britannia Duelling for the Queen's Cup"

by Steven Dews

Limited Edition 350

Image 20 x 30 ins Paper 26 x 35 ins


During the 1894 Scottish racing season, spectators and yachting enthusiasts were treated to one of the most exciting races ever witnessed on the Clyde. The Queen's Cup rules stated that there must be a minimum of 3 yachts on the start line. Britannia and Vigilant required another challenger for the Cup in order to start the race and, in a very generous gesture, the owner of Marjorie, Mr. J Coats, entered his yacht with the full knowledge that she had no possibility of beating the two other racing giants. The weather was perfect, with a light to moderate southerly breeze. Britannia led from the start with Vigilant in hot pursuit and, as was to be expected, the hugely outclassed Marjorie fell behind very rapidly and was half an hour behind the other yachts by the end of the first circuit. As the race ended, Vigilant took line honours from Britannia by a margin of only 67 seconds. However Britannia won the race on corrected time