Social Media Army

As the Dutch came to preeminence in sea power during the 17th century, the initial yacht was a leisure craft used mostly by royalty and secondly by the burghers on the canals and the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Racing was incidental, coming out of private challenges. English yachting originated with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low Countries. On his reaffirmation to the English monarchy in 1660, the city of Amsterdam sent him a 20-metre (66-foot) pleasure boat with a beam (maximum width) of 5.6 m (18 feet), which he called Mary. Charles and his brother James, the duke of York (James II, ruled 1685–88), built additional yachts and in 1662 raced two of them from the Thames, from Greenwich, to Gravesend, and returning, on a £100 punt. Yachting was found to be popular for the wealthy and aristocracy, but after that point the habit did not last.

The first yacht association in the British Isles, the Water Club, was formed in about 1720 at Cork, Ire., as a cruising and unofficial coast guard association, and had large naval panoply and formality. The closest thing to racing was the “chase,” when the “fleet” pursued an imaginary enemy. The club endured, for the large part as a social club, until 1765, and in 1828, after joining with other organisations, it became known as the Cork Yacht Club (later the Royal Cork Yacht Club).

Yacht racing was first seen in some stipulated manner on the Thames around the mid-18th century. The duke of Cumberland founded the Cumberland Fleet for Thames racing in 1775. When George IV ascended to the throne in 1820, it came to be known as the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded with a racing argument, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht club had been initiated at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1815, and royal funding made the Solent - the strait between the mainland and the Isle of Wight - the continuing site of British yachting. The society at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, again at the ascension of George IV. Every member was required to own boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing matches for high bets were held, and the society life was wonderful. Eventually Royal Yachting Club boats grew in size to over 350 tons.

In North America, yachting started with the Dutch in New York in the 17th century and went on when the English gained power. Sailing was largely for pleasure and found its apogee in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which cruised on the Mediterranean Sea and established a minimum of luxury and sophistication for the later yachts in that area from the late 19th century. The first enduring American yacht organisation, the Detroit Boat Club, was instigated in 1839. In 1844, John C. Stevens founded the New York Yacht Club while aboard his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
The Early sailing yachts followed the style of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century through to the later half of the 19th century. The style of large yachts was originally greatly impacted by the victory of America, which was drawn by George Steers for a group headed by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) was named after its win at Cowes in 1851. Earlier yachts were not designed and crafted in a contemporary sense, with merely a model for an outline. Not until the later half of the 19th century did what was known as naval architecture come about. Not until the 1920s did the employment of the research of aerodynamics do for the structure of sails and rigging what it had done earlier for hulls.

Because nearly all sailboats were individually custom-built, there arose a requirement for handicapping boats previous to the one-design class boats were made. Hence, a rating rule was decreed, which ended up in the International Rule, adopted in 1906 and amended in 1919. In modern times, one of the fastest growing areas in sailing is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are created to single specifications in length, beam, sail area, and other elements (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing such boats can be done on an even keel with no handicapping required. A prime example is the standard International America’s Cup Class adopted for yachts in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

So long as yachting was an activity mostly for the aristocracy and the wealthy, expense was no issue, and the size of boats developed, in both length and weight. The promotion and desire of smaller yachts happened in the second half of the 19th century out of the sailing of the Englishmen R.T. McMullen, a stockbroker, and E.F. Knight, a barrister and journalist. A trip around the world (1895–98) captained single-handedly by the naturalized American captain Joshua Slocum in the 11.3-metre Spray demonstrated the seaworthiness of small boats. Later in the 20th century, for the larger part after World War II, smaller racing and leisure yachts became commonplace, down to the dinghy, a favourite training boat, of 3.7 m. In the late 20th century, yachts of less than 3 m were setting sail single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
Post the decade 1840–50, when steam was set to take the place of sail power in market boats, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were employed increasingly in personal craft. Bigger power yachts were developed to a high degree, and long-distance sailing became a favoured occupation of the wealthy. The first power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; those then gave rise to yachts powered by the fully submerged screw or propeller kind of propulsion. Like naval and merchant craft, auxiliaries possessing both sail and power were the yacht standard for many years. By the later half of the 20th century, several yachts were still auxiliaries, but the larger part were solely power yachts with gasoline or diesel engines.

From the last decade of the 19th century there was a boom in the construction of large steam yachts. In particular among these was the Mayflower (1897) of 2,690 tons, with triple-expansion engines, twin screws, and a compartmented iron hull, and was sailed by a crew of more than 150. The Mayflower, purchased by the United States Navy in 1898, was the official yacht of the president of the United States until 1929 and gave active service during World War II.

As larger and better quality internal-combustion engines were produced, many large craft began using them for power. The development of the diesel engine, with heavy oil for fuel, advanced in World War I. During the decade after, bigger power-yacht building grew, hitting a climax in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. During that period the biggest auxiliary yacht constructed was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The construction of big power craft lessened from 1932, and the style after that was toward smaller, less expensive craft. From World War II, many small naval craft were bought by private owners for conversion to yachts. At the late 20th century, yachting has become a widespread loved sport enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen individually owning and upkeeping their own small pleasure boats. The number of craft and owners has increased steadily, not only in the traditional locations along the seacoasts but also on inland waterways and lakes.

Looking for yacht detailing Gold Coast ? Talk to Elite Yacht Services. We do great work at competitive prices.