Rewards will include regatta sailing and dinner with the captain
A fund-raising
campaign is being launched to help complete the restoration of a replica of Britannia
– the J Class yacht owned and
raced by King George V, the son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
K1
Britannia, the company behind the campaign, says that all pledges of financial
support will receive rewards – ranging from original sketches and blueprints to
rigging blocks, crew clothing, and oil paintings by renowned marine artists.
There
will even be the chance to sail aboard the finished Britannia during her first
regattas in Monaco, Cannes, the UK and Caribbean, and dine with her captain and
officers.
The
original Britannia was commissioned in 1892 and built in Scotland, where she
was launched during April 1893.
She went
onto win 231 races, beating the America’s Cup defender, Vigilant, on home
waters.
The
current Britannia was commissioned in 1994 and her build was begun in Russia, but
she later moved to Norway after the construction project faltered.
She is
now in Cowes on the Isle of Wight where is being stripped and prepared for her
refit at Venture Quays in East Cowes.
It is hoped that she will be completed in 15 months’ time and launched with an
overall length of 52m and a 55m mast – the tallest wooden mast in the world!
She will
then be used as a platform for maritime education and charity work.
‘By having her design and engineering crowd funded in this way we are
giving people a chance to share in the very special experience of bringing this part of
important history back to life,’ says Scott Ward, founder of K1 Britannia.
For
more information go to: http://k1britannia.org/kickstarter
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