Yachting – It All Started in Holland in the 1500s

As much as we hate to admit it, “yachting” really didn’t start with powerboats in but in sailboats built by the Dutch in the 1500s. The word “yacht” is from the Dutch word “jacht.” So, if you consider yourself a yachtsman you have a long and rich heritage to call your own. With so much water all around and so much wealth in 17th century, little wonder that the Dutch were the first to creating yachting as a sport. And for the same reasons, little wonder that Holland is still a major yacht builder. For those of our members who are interested in such things we offer up snippets of yachting history and trivia from both Wikipedia and the Britannica.

This painting of a Dutch yacht flying its national ensign was rendered by Dionys van Dongen probably in the 1770s.

From Wikipedia --

The Dutch Started it All

Yacht (pronounced /ˈjɒt/, from Dutch/Low German jacht meaning hunting or hunt, compare Standard German/High German Jagd) was originally defined as a light, fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries. They were also used for non-military governmental roles such as customs duties and delivering pilots to waiting ships. The latter use attracted the attention of wealthy Dutch merchants who began to build private yachts so they could be taken out to greet their returning ships.

Fleet Parades Begin

Soon wealthy individuals began to use their 'jachts' for pleasure trips. By the start of the 17th century 'jachts' came in two broad catergories- speel-jachts for sport and oorlog-jachts for naval duties. By the middle of the century large 'jacht' fleets were found around the Dutch coast and the Dutch states organised large 'reviews' of private and war yachts for special occasions, thus putting in place the groundwork for the modern sport of yachting.

Jachts of this period varied greatly in size, from around 40 ft (12 m) in length to being equal to the lower classes of the ship of the line. All had a form of fore/aft gaff rig with a flat bottom and lee boards to allow operations in shallow waters.

Hail, Britannia

Charles II of England spent part of his time in exile during the period of the Commonwealth of England in the Netherlands and became keen on sailing. He returned to England in 1660 aboard a Dutch yacht. During his reign Charles commissioned 24 Royal Yachts on top of the two presented to him by Dutch states on his restoration.

As the fashion for yachting spread throughout the English aristocracy yacht races began to become common. Other rich individuals in Europe built yachts as the sport spread. Yachting therefore became a purely recreational form of sailing with no commercial or military function.

From the Encyclopedia Britannica via Google--

YACHTING is the sport of racing in yachts and boats with sails for money or plate, and also the pastime of cruising for pleasure in sailing or steam vessels. The history of yachting is the history of yacht-racing, inasmuch as competition improved yachts just as horse-racing improved horses. It dates from the beginning of the 19th century; for, although there were sailing yachts long before, they were but few, and belonged exclusively to princes and other illustrious personages.

Yachtalot

For instance, in the Anglo-Saxon period Athelstan (C. 930—Ed.) had presented to him by the king of Norway a magnificent royal vessel, the sails of which were purple and the head and deck wrought with gold, apparently a kind of state barge. Elizabeth had one, and so has every English sovereign since. During her reign a pleasure ship was built (1588) at Cowes, so that the association of that place with the sport goes back three hundred years.

In 1660 Charles U. was presented by the Dutch with a yacht named the " Mary," until which time the word "yacht" was unknown in England. Th» Merrie Monarch was fond of sailing, for he designed a yacht of 25 tons called the " Jamie," built at Lambeth in 1662, as well as several others later on. In that year the "Jamie" was matched for £100 against a small Dutch yacht, under the duke of York, from Greenwich to Gravesend and back, and beat her, the king steering part of the time—apparently the first record of a yacht match and of an amateur helmsman.

Clubbing Begins

The first authentic record of a sailing club is in 1720, when the Cork Harbour Water Club, now known as the Royal Cork Yacht Club, was established in Ireland, but the yachts were small Maitland, in his History of London (1739), mentions sailing and rowing on the Thames as among the amusements then indulged in; and Strutt, in his Sportf and Pastimes (1801), says that the Cumberland Society, consisting of gentlemen partial to this pastime, gave yearly a silver cup to be sailed for in the vicinity of London.

The boats usually started from Blackfriars Bridge, went up the Thames to Putney, and returned to Vauxhall, being, no doubt, mere sailing boats and not yachts or decked vessels. From the middle to the end of the 18th century yachting developed very slowly: although matches were sailed at Cowes as far back as 1780, very few yachts of any size, say 35 tons, existed in 1800 there or elsewhere.

Yachting Explodes in Popularity

In 1812 the Royal Yacht Squadron was established by fifty yacht-owners at Cowes and was called the Yacht Club, altered to the Royal Yacht Club in 1820; but no regular regatta was held there until some years later. The number of vessels kept pace with the clubs—the fifty yachts of 1812 increasing nearly tenfold before the middle of the century, which was the critical epoch of yacht-building.

The first yacht club established in the U.S. was the New York Yacht Club, founded in 1844.