Boating Tips - History of Yachting

The sport of yachting is relatively new going to back to the year 1660 and King Charles of Great Britain, the word yacht comes from the Dutch word, jacht, meaning fast and pursued. In 1895, aggressive grizzly sea captain named Joshua Slocum sailed alone around the world in Spray, his 36 foot converted fishing sloop. You can read all about it in his book, Sailing Alone around the World, the book that has inspired generations of sailors to strike out into the great unknown.

In America, the sport of yachting got it start from the New York Yacht Club founded in 1844. A syndicate of that club raised a 101-foot schooner off the coast of England in 1851 and won a trophy called the Squadron Cup. This trophy was given to the New York Yacht Club for international competition and it soon came to be called the Americas Cup. The great naval architect, Nathanael Herreshoff designed the largest single masted sailboat ever built. It was the 143-foot long Reliance and it won the 1903 Americas Cup.

There are few new concepts in sailing today that Herreshoff did not invent or improve upon during his long life. Boating magazines also help to encourage the sport of yachting. In 1890 and for the next 26 years, a magazine a called the Radar was a relentless promoter of the sport. Its editor Tom Day was instrumental in encouraging the masses to take up yachting as a popular past time. Today new techniques and inventions in boat construction such as fiberglass have expanded the sport to the point where you can find just about any craft from a jet ski to a mega yacht in popular cursing areas and anchorages.

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