Rock Island daily Argus., 1893-11-22
ORIGIN OF YACHTING.
CHANGES IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
VESSELS IN 800 YEARS.

Evolution In Popularity Of the Sport.
The Eirst international Race Was Re
tween English and Duteh Vessels.
Charles II Among the Earliest Patrons.
The term yacht" is derived from the
Danish word ..jaght," meaning chase;
hence yachting is the chasing Of one ves-
sci after another. and accordingly yacht
ing and yacht racing are Synonymous
expressions.
A yacht is and always has been essen
TALLY pleasure craft, but in the early
days no yacht Of any size existed. Thus
we find writer in 1905 referring to .
yacht as "a small ship built for swiftness
and pleasure rather than for merchan-
disc or warlike service" History does
not tell us where, when or under what
circumstances yachts We're first built,
but it is certain they are Of ancient orr
gin and were only owned by royal per-
sons and great mobiles. The latter fact
receives confederation from an ancient
but carefully compiled dictionary of sim
gllar words. where yacht is described
as "a pleasure craft of not more than
100 tons for the kings use.
The earliest mention of a Yacht in this
country was as far back as the Anglo
Saxon period. when King Athelstan re-
| ceived from the king of Norway pres
ent of magnificent state barge. rugged
| with purple sails and decorated with
| wrought gold. Queen Elizabeth. we
know, frequently used a state barge,
| and so have successive sovereigns 10 this
| day. 1t Is curious TO relate. and goes
far to show the primitive nature of our
| early resources. that while foreigners
| We're able ia build yachts their example
was not followed in this country TIL
15Ss, when the first English yacht was
| constructed at Cowes and launched
from that port.
| But while 1858 may he fixed as the
commencement of yacht building in
England, II cannot be said that during
the next half century much progress was
made with the newly acquired industry.
Indeed, had II not been for Charles III,
it is probable that the trade would not
have been established for some time to
come. King Charles. however was very
fond of sailing, and the Dutch East India
company, with the view Of gaining royal
favor. presented him with a small sloop
rugged vessel. The advent of the foreign
built vessel evidently stimulated native
talent, as we find Evelyn, in his diary of
| Oct. /. 1861, writing. Il sailed this morn
| ing with his majesty in one of his yachts or
| pleasure boats vessels not known among
US till the Dutch Eas, India company
| presented that tcurious piece to the king"
L xsvrf mo l.
he was also a designer, and drew the
lines of the Jamie, "a - tonner, built at
Lambeth, and raced her against the Be
zan. small Dutch built vessel belong
ing to the Duke of York.
The course was from Greenwich to
Grave>end and back and the prize cl0O,
which was won by the Bezan. As the
| ships We're designed and constructed in
different countries the race NAV fairly
claim to have possessed an international
character. while from the fact that the
royal owners steered their own boats it
was clearly an amateur match. Cnfor-
tunately with the death of Charles ii
came another lull in the history of yacht
ing. and If was not till early in the eight
eenth century that any real revival took
place. During this long interval how
ever. yachting had gradually become a
more democratic amusement, and the
sport of kings had descended to the level
of commoners. Cork harbor became a
favorite yachting ground and during
the summer months was crowded with
diininutive pleasure vessels. Indeed. SO
popular did the sport become that in 120
! the Cork Harbor Water club was formed
TO encourage yacht racing. The club I'll
timately developed into what is now the
Royal Cork Yacht club. Here. then, We
have the first authentic attempt AT organ.
ization in the yachting world.
4 few years later the sport came into
, favor in the south of England. and Matt
land, in his History of London" G139l
; refers to sailing as one of the amuse-
J ments to he met with on the river
Thames, while later still GS0D Strut
in his well known work on sports and
Pastimes," mentions the existence of q
society consisting of certain gentlemen
who gave a silver cup TO be sailed fol
annually in the vicinity of London. To
ward the close of the eighteenth centur,
Cowes became the favorite resort o.
yacht racing. hut still the contendin.
vessels were of small size, none bein.
over 3j tons. 1t was not until the foun
dation Of the yacht club. afterward tn,
Royal Yacht club and now the world re
nowned Royal Yacht squadron, tha
yachting in this country may fairly b,
said to have established itself as ma
tional sport, and even then ue19 tn
number Of yachts afloat only reached 50
all told. But from this time the popu
lsrity Of yachting rapidly grew, and clul
after club followed in quick succession
I-Londo0 Times.