Thistle (yacht)

The Meteor I ( ex Thistle ) was the first of a series of imperial racing yachts of Wilhelm II bore the name Meteor.

Regatta career as a Thistle

The yacht was designed by George Lennox Watson and built at the shipyard D. & W. Henderson & Company in Partick on the Clyde on the River Clyde in Scotland and ran on April 26, 1887 by stack. The client was a syndicate. Shareholders from William Clark, John Clark, Andrew Coates, William Coates, James Coates, George Coates, J. Hilliard Bell, and William Bell, under the leadership of James Bell, all members of the Royal Clyde Yacht Club

The yacht was a steel construction with a teak deck. Skipper of the Thistle was John Barr ( half-brother of the legendary Charlie Barr). The construction proceeded in great secrecy in winter 1886/1887, because the Thistle was the British Challenger yacht of the America 's Cup. At launch, the hull was covered with cotton cloth, so you could not see their lines. In its first summer season in 1887, she sailed very successfully in Scotland and could use 11 first and 2 second places in 15 races. Among the races of the 7th America's Cup they crossed the North Atlantic and arrived in New York on the American defender yacht ( defender ) Volunteer who was under great pressure to succeed because of the superior achievements of the Thistle.

7 America's Cup 27 - September 30, 1887

As Thistle reached New York, hired a local newspaper to a diver to investigate the mysterious underwater ship, which had been concealed when it is launched. There was an angry discussion about the fact that the indicated waterline ( LWL) was shorter than they actually surrendered after a resurvey. The exact measurement was important in that the yachts were not a unit class and had to give each other one time payment to compensate for their different size. A match race in the modern sense was not possible at that time.

Management team of the Thistle:

  • Skipper: John Barr
  • Afterguard ( tactics and navigation): William Bell, James York, George L. Watson and Captain WR Gibson.

The race series was set by the organizer, the New York Yacht Club to two wins in three races in the waters off New York.

1st race: September 27, 1887

The first race brought about 32.6 nautical miles on the so-called Inside Course about 20 nautical miles to windward ( upwind ) from the starting point Scotland Lightship (Scotland Lightship ) and back. The U.S. defender yacht ( defender ) Volunteer beat Thistle with a lead of 19 minutes and 23 seconds on corrected time ( see above).

2nd race: September 30, 1887

The second race resulted in more than 40 nautical miles on the so-called Outside Course about 20 nautical miles to windward ( upwind ) from the starting point Scotland Lightship (Scotland Lightship ) and back. The U.S. defender yacht Volunteer beat Thistle again with a lead of 11 minutes and 11 seconds on corrected time.

James Bell unsuccessfully attempted immediately after the race to sell Thistle for £ 10,000 on site. She returned on October 14, 1887 Scotland.

The yacht had followed from 1888-1890 a very successful racing career in British waters for the Royal Clyde Yacht Club.

Regatta career as a meteor

The German Kaiser was looking for a promising regatta yacht for his sailing ambitions. Competitive yachts you could buy at that time only in the U.S. or UK or built. His advisers were aware of the Thistle, due to their success and he bought the yacht in 1891 for 90,000 gold marks. Thistle was renamed meteor with the home port of Kiel, since Kaiser Wilhelm II was named and " commodore " of the Imperial yacht clubs.

The meteor of the German emperor took for the first time with its own yacht at the international and prestigious regatta week of Cowes, Cowes Week, part. His appearance in Cowes and in the clubhouse of the Royal Yacht Squadron on the Isle of Wight led his uncle, the Prince of Wales and future King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Edward VII, also a racing yacht on the same Boatyard the meteor in Scotland order.

Between 1893 and 1895 William II sailed with Meteor I against the new approximately equal Yacht Britannia Prince of Wales and future King Edward VII Britannia winning all races clear as she was the faster ship was sailed by a better team. At the time, yachts of this size ( big- Class) were exclusively sailed by mostly English, Scottish or Norwegian professional teams including captain. The teams were recruited mostly from fishermen who were hired for the summer months or individual races. In the winter they went on their sailing trawlers to fish.

The ambitious Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered a new faster yacht, the Meteor II with George Lennox Watson because of the loss to the Britannia. It was like the previous yacht built at the shipyard D. & W. Henderson & Company in Scotland.

1895 Meteor I of the Imperial Navy was passed as a training ship in Wilhelmshaven and renamed Comet. In 1921, the Comet, scrapped ex Meteor I, ex Thistle.

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