| Meteor II |
 |
| Rig Class. | Cutter, then Yawl |
| General characteristics |
| Ton: | 236 tons |
| Beam: | |
Meteor II was, perhaps, G L Watson's masterpiece. She was designed to the YRA rule which replaced the length/sail area rule. Her owner was the Kaiser William II and he built her simply to beat Britannia.
The photograph on the right shows her in 1896, the year of her first appearance on the racing scene, and the flag with the Hohenzollern Eagle can be clearly seen. This is the flag that is now mounted in the Pavilion foyer.
She joined the cutter fleet on the Thames in June and it was at once clear that she was a very fast boat. She won all her races before sailing over to Kiel that month. A little later she appeared on the Clyde, escorted by a Torpedo Boat of the Imperial German Navy (one of the reasons for the Kaiser's involvement in big boat racing was his challenge to British sea power).
Meteor's record got better and better as the regattas moved south, but progress was marred and cut short by a fatal accident in a race run by the Royal Albert Yacht Club in which Baron von Zedwitz lost his life. Von Sedwitz was aboard Isolde when she was involved in a luffing match, and a minor collision with The Saint carried her right across Meteor's bows. Meteor's boom scythed across Isolde's deck from stem to stern. The crew saved their lives by jumping overboard, but von Sedwitz was trapped by the boom as it fell. He died aboard the steam yacht Bohemia while being taken to Ryde. Neither Meteor nor Britannia raced again that season.
There was little of inteest in big cutter racing the following year. Meteor, in her contests with Bona found herself unable to compete with the new YRA time scale.
In 1898 she raced on the Riviera but again was beaten by Bona which was a great light weather boat.
In 1899 she came out as a yawl. She was as fast as ever and, with her reduced time allowance, was able to beat Bona.
In 1902 the Kaiser abandoned Meteor II and she was passed to the German Navy; he placed an order for Meteor III to be built in the United States, more for political reasons than anything else.
Owners