Captain James Haughton Forrest (Boulogne 1825-1924 Hobart, Tasmania) The Royal Yacht Squadron's cutters Alarm and Esmeralda off the Eddystone lighthouse signed 'H Forrest' (lower left) and with inscription 'Alarm & Esmeralda off Eddystone Light/Esmeralda in the foreground' (on the stretcher) oil on canvas 10 x 14 in. (25.4 x 35.7 cm.) Before the Prince of Wales' legendary yacht Britannia entered the fray in 1893, the nineteenth century's most celebrated racing cutter had been the Arrow, owned by Mr. Joseph Weld of Lulworth Castle, Dorset. Sailing competitively as early as 1800, Weld was one of the founding fathers of the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes when it was established in 1815. Anxious to improve on Arrow's success with an even larger cutter, Weld sold her after the 1828 season. Alarm, the second of Joseph Weld's design successes, was built in the same yard as Arrow, namely Thomas Inman's yard at Lymington and was launched in 1830. Measured at 193 tons, she was the largest racing cutter afloat winning the King's Cup in her maiden season and repeating this victory the following year. She was destined for a glittering career and eventually came to be seen as 'the last and finest example of the big racing cutter' before the advent of the schooner rig. Alarm remained under the ownership of Weld for twenty-one years before being replaced with an even larger schooner of the same name. Born in Boulogne in 1825, Haughton Forrest was the son of Captain T.A. Forrest, an equerry to Queen Victoria. Most of his early works were by commission and one of his patrons was the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), an enthusiastic yachtsman. He served in the army for many years before moving to Tasmania, where he died in 1924.