Valkyrie II (yacht)

Valkyrie II was the unsuccessful British challenger yacht ( challenger ) in the eighth America's Cup competition in 1893 against the American defender yacht ( defender ) Vigilant.

Valkyrie II was a gaffelgeriggter racing cutter, designed by the renowned Scottish yacht designer in his time George Lennox Watson. It was side by side with the new racing yacht HMY Britannia Prince of Wales and future King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Edward VII at the shipyard D. & W. Henderson & Company in Partick on the Clyde built on the River Clyde in Scotland. My owner was Windham Thomas Wyndham- Quin, 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount - Earl, a member of the Royal Yacht Club Royal Yacht Squadron.

The yacht Valkyrie II had a wooden hull and a deck on steel frames from Whitepine (pine). The launch took place on April 29, 1893 a week after the Britannia.

Valkyrie II crossed the North Atlantic to North America to participate in October of the same year as British challenger in the 8th America's Cup. She lost all three races of the regatta against, designed by Nathanael Herreshoff and sailing under the pennant of the New York Yacht Club Defender Yacht Vigilant.

Management team of the Valkyrie II during the America's Cup races:

• Skipper: William Cranfield
• Afterguard ( tactics and navigation): Captain Lemon Cranfield, Captain Martin F. Lyon, H. Maitland Kersey, George L. Watson, Lady Rachel Wyndham- Quin, Lady Eileen Wyndham- Quin.

Valkyrie II had brought only a short yacht life of about a year. On 5 July 1894 collided during the Mud Hook Regatta on the Firth of Clyde with the racing boats Satanita AD Clarke. In this accident died a crew member. The yacht Valkyrie II broke apart and sank nine minutes later.