1894 Regatta Britannia & Vigilante With Valkyrie II & Satanita On Clyde Stephen J Renard

Marine Oil Painting Muir Memorial Challenge Cup Britannia On Clyde By Stephen J Renard. Make a big nautical statement & really impress your guests or clients with this historical Challenge Cup marine yacht cutter race masterpiece for your home or corporate office. Title “Britannia On The Clyde 1894”, Racing Regatta With Vigilante, Valkyrie II & Satanita at Muir Memorial Challenge Cup During Clyde Forthnight. Subject marine work depicting the great Britannia racing cutter yacht with her American cousin named Vigilant with other racers behind them as they race though the Clyde in July of 1894. With a strong breeze hitting the sails on blue choppy waters, with views of the Scottish sloping hills & tall Highlands in the background. With a mixed overcast sky with lighter areas & blue shining through. Britannia was desperate to duplicate her great maiden season the previous year. She faced a worthy challenger in Vigilant as Vigilant retained the America’s Cup in 1893. They met each other at Mudhook Yacht Club’s race which was at Hunter’s Quay the main fixtures making up the Clyde Fortnight. This is when Britannia got the first victory over Vigilant. The regatta of 1894 will always be remembered for the disaster that occurred at the start of the Muir Memorial Challenge Cup The competitors were Britannia and Satanita also Vigilant & Valkyrie II, It was at the beginning during a manoeuvre at the start Valkyrie was sunk by Satanita as Satanita was trying to avoid hitting another small boat. The greatest race between them occurred on July 7th, another challenger Marjorie joined them to battle it out for the Queens Cup for the Royal Clyde Yacht Club. Oil on card laid on board. An excellent proportion size with the frame being 38.5 cm wide and 28 cm high. Set in the original decorative gilt frame which enhances this work further. Signed Renard by the known marine artist Stephen J Renard. Also title inscribed verso. In our opinion this is an exceptional example of his work. Artist biography Artist Biography Stephen J Renard a well know leading artist in marine art, he was born post-war in the year 1947 in West Yorkshire in the historic town of Huddersfield, he was so talented in painting even when he was a child. He went to university in Liverpool however after a few years he developed a great fascination in marine life & navigating the seas. He soon chose to leave his initial chosen profession and became an expert artist instead. He was known to have acquired a small sailing yacht vessel and taught himself how to navigate & sail, it was during this period that he began to paint other passing yachts whilst he was at anchor. The marine works he produced suddenly became in such great demand, he was also inspired by the known Steven Dews. He has been commissioned by British Royalty along with prestigious Yacht Clubs, his attention to the most specific detail is impeccable. His works have been exhibited at galleries and have sold at auction houses around the world sell up t0 $55,947 US Dollars. His Majesty's Yacht Britannia was a gaff-rigged cutter built in 1893 for RYS Commodore Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. She served both himself and his son King George V with a long racing career.Britannia was ordered in 1892 by the Prince of Wales and designed by George Lennox Watson. She was a near sister ship to the Watson-designed Valkyrie II which challenged for the 1893 America's Cup. Details of the commission were arranged on the Prince's behalf by William Jamieson who represented him and liaised closely with Watson. The build cost was £8,300 and like Valkyrie II, Britannia was built at the D&W Henderson shipyard in Partick on the River Clyde. With two such highly important commissions underway in the same yard, Watson delegated his protégé James Rennie Barnett to oversee both yachts. Britannia was launched on 20 April 1893, a week ahead of Valkyrie II and joined a fleet of first class cutters that was growing fast as others followed the royal lead. In a highly competitive fleet, Britannia soon set about achieving the race results which would eventually establish her as the most successful racing yacht of all time. By the end of her first year's racing, Britannia had scored thirty-three wins from forty-three starts. In her second season, she won all seven races for the first class yachts on the French Riviera, and then beat the 1893 America's Cup defender Vigilant in home waters. In the Mount's Bay Regatta of 28 July 1894 the Vigilant owned by Jay Gould, director of the American Cable Company, was piloted by Benjamin Nicholls of Penzance, and the Prince of Wales's yacht Britannia was piloted by Ben's brother Philip Nicholls. Britannia won by just over seven minutes. People came by train from all over the south west to watch this race. Both brothers were Trinity House pilots of Penzance.Despite a lull in big yacht racing after 1897. Britannia served as a trial horse for Sir Thomas Lipton's first America's Cup challenger Shamrock, and later passed on to several owners in a cruising trim with raised bulwarks. In 1920 King George V triggered the revival of the "Big class" by announcing that he would refit Britannia for racing. Although Britannia was the oldest yacht in the circuit, regular updates to her rig kept her a most successful racer throughout the 1920s. In 1931, she was converted to the J class with a bermuda rig, but despite the modifications, her performance to windward declined dramatically. Her last race was at Cowes in 1935. During her racing career she had won 231 races and took another 129 flags. King George V's dying wish was for his beloved yacht to follow him to the grave. On 10 July 1936, after Britannia had been stripped of her spars and fittings, her hull was towed out to St Catherine's Deep near the Isle of Wight, and she was sunk by HMS Winchester, commanded by Captain W.N.T. Beckett RN. Provenance labels verso Artwork registered Ref JHS/SR1113 James Starkey Fine Art International, shire auction, Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD & Exhibited Famous Lord Hill Museum.