VII.

History

The first sailors were probably fishers of the prehistoric period who enjoyed leisure-time cruising or racing in their crude sailing craft. Sumptuously decorated pleasure boats were maintained by the privileged classes of ancient Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome; however, such craft were usually naval or commercial vessels fitted with luxurious appointments. The first boats designed solely for pleasure and sport were commissioned by Dutch nobility and merchants early in the 17th century. The word yacht itself is of Dutch origin, short for jaghtschip (“hunting ship”), a swift, maneuverable sailing vessel about 14 to 20 m (about 45 to 65 ft) in length. Later in the 17th century Charles II popularized the sport in England after receiving a yacht as a gift from the Dutch people. In 1720 the first known formal organization of yacht devotees, the Cork Water Club, now the Royal Cork Yacht Club, was founded in Ireland. The oldest yachting organization still existing is the Royal Yacht Squadron, founded at Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, in 1815 as the Royal Yacht Club of England.

Workboats were sailed extensively for pleasure in North America during colonial times, particularly in New England and New York. The first large U.S. vessel built specifically as a luxuriously fitted yacht was the schooner Cleopatra’s Barge, constructed in 1816 in Salem, Massachusetts. The New York Yacht Club was founded in 1844. In 1850 and 1851 six members of the New York Yacht Club financed the construction of the first great U.S. racing yacht, the 30-m (100-ft) schooner America. Its fine lines, much slimmer in the bow than other racing craft, changed subsequent yacht design. Its brilliant victory at an international regatta at Cowes in August 1851 provided a stimulus to American yachting.

The America’s Cup, a trophy named for the America, became the most famous prize in yacht racing after it was given to the New York Yacht Club in 1857. Yachts based in the United States held the Cup for more than a century, finally losing it to an Australian team in 1983. The Americans, led by skipper Dennis Conner, recaptured the Cup in 1987 and retained it until a New Zealand boat won it in 1995. Switzerland won the America’s Cup in 2003. See America’s Cup Race.

Yachting was revolutionized by the appearance in the late 19th century of various types of power-driven craft, particularly steam yachts. The subsequent development of power boating was tremendously accelerated by the successful demonstration, in 1887, of a craft propelled by a two-cylinder internal-combustion engine.

Sailboat racing was gradually transformed, beginning about 1890, by the development of one-design craft. The one-design boats, about 2 to 12 m (about 7 to 40 ft) in length and relatively inexpensive to build and maintain compared to other boats, eventually attracted thousands of sailing enthusiasts.