The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-10-09
j. II. Johnston & Co.,
~ Union Square, N. Y.
Yachting, FROM THE BEoINNINe.

Charles
Graft Now Existing In All the World
Numbers md value OF EnEiish Yachts
History of n Gioriou. and Boon,inS sport
From The London Time.
Tho term yacht" Is derived from the Dan
ish word jaohL meaning chase; hence yacht
ing In the chasing OF one vessel after another.
and, accordingly, yachting and yacht racing
are synonymous expressions. A yacht is and
always has been essentially q pleasure craft.
but in the early days no yacht OF any size OK
listed; thus We find a writer in 1706 referring
to a yacht as a small ship built for swiftness
and pleasure rather than for merchandise or
warlke service" History does not tell us
where. when. or under what circumstances
yachts were first built but 1t Is certain they
are OF ancient origin. and were only owned by
royal persons and great noples: the latter TACT t
carefully compiled dictionary Of singular
words where a yacht is defined as a pleasure
craft OF not moro than 100 tons for tho Kings
USE" The earliest mention OF a yacht in this
country was "a far back as the Anglo-Saxon
period, when King Athelstan received from the
state barge. rugged with purple sails and dec
Grated with wrought gold. Queen Elizabeth:
we know, frequently used q state barge, and
SO have successive sovereigns to this day. 1t
is curious to relate and goes far to show the
primitive nature o, our early resources =, h ,hnS
yachts. their exam pie was not followed in this
country Till 1888. when the first English yacht
'n But Twill while 1888 may be fixed as the com.
cannot be said that during the next half CEN
tury much progress was made with the newly
acquired industry; Indeed had It not been
would not have been established Tor some time
to come. King Charles. however. was very fond
with tho View OF gaining royal favor, presented
him with n small sloop- rugged vessel. The ad-
fiy.s fall n q
morning with his Majesty in one Of his yachts
us Til tho Dutch East India Company pre-:
sented that curious piece to the King But
me hnG was m9t amy b nss az he
..5-tonner built at Lambeth. and raced her
against the Bean. small Dutch built vessel
from Greenwich to Gravesend and back. and
the prize 100. which was won by the Bczan
Az the ships We're designed and constrncted ~, in
to have possessed an international character
while from the fact that the royal owners
teur match. Unfortunately, with the death Of
Charles H. came another luli II the history Of
nS IT Ss nHs m asy II 5hs
place. During this long interval. however.
yachting had gradually become more demo,
descended to the level OF commoners Cork
harbor became a favorite Yachting ground,
and during the summer months was crowded
popular did the sport become that in / 10 the
Cork Harhor Water Club nr was 81, formed to en-.
developed into what is now tho Royal Cork
Yacht Club. Here. then. we have the first 'au-
thentic attempt at organization In the yacht
4 lew years later the sport came into, favor
IN the south OF England end Maitland IN his
river Thames. while later stlll Ilsoij strut in
0ylStpnC9
consisting Of certain centlemen who gave a
SILVER cap t" be sailed i9r an hnnIaly i9 the
eighteenth century Cowes became the favorite
resort OF yacht racing. Out still the contending
thirty: five tons it was not until the founda;
ton OF the Yacht Clue. afterwaro the Royal
Haehs Cub and now tho hweridrenowned
this country may fairly be said to have es-
tablished itself as a national sport: and even
reached fifty all told. But from this time tho
popularity Of yachting rapidly grew and club
after cIHb followed in quick spSc c,., The
next year the Royal Northern was. started on
tho Clyde. In 1927, the Royal Western, was
EASTERN Came into eNist"n n Then succeeded sue
the Royal London and the Royal St George in
1888. the Royal southern and the Royal liar-
loyal Mersey and the Royal Victoria at hyde,
so prominent this year by reason Of the inter;
Navahoe. The Royal Irish was founded in
Ia. the Royal Welsh in ls47. and the Royal
in 1a is5 Nw ns tSSF place
handsome club house. According to Hunt
nized clubs In the United Kingdom.
The little feet OF 80 vessels in 1872 has
waS sbSns fo Of are
ships. Placing tho gross tonnage. steam and
sail. at 300; 900 and the initial cost ut "a, por
ure navy &l3.50o.UOO must have been SD emit In
building alone. TO get ut the annual eXpendi-
com mission at one time Which means yearly
yachting account OF about f3.0JO.OOO. Natu-
rally the expenditure OF 50 large sum has
Is not far short OF $50. Designing has also
lucrative one while a successful designer is a
very much souEht-after, individual 1t is
scarcely poss bile to calculate the number OF
men engaged on shore in connection with this
Industry. but about 1900 are employed In the
OF the fleet at sea.
Turning to foreign countries. 1t will be found
that Yachting has also made great strides in
recent years. France is fast becoming yacht
ns centre and only to ganss
taken by the French In this pnstipe. Twelve
now in the Cercie do la Voils do Paris. which
may be considered the principal French club.
seventy vessels fly the colors' IT is true that
schooners OF 3 " and l27 tons respectively.
The largest European yacht club is. per-
haps. the Royal Swedish. with lin 1892 ninety
yachts on Its list. but here again the sailing
vessels IRE OF very small tonnage.
Another important club Is the Regio Yacht
Club ltaliano. with its three schooners OF la7.
] 40. and AZ tons, respectively. The purchase OF
the first Nalkyrie by the Archduke Carl stephen
sunpiies an impetns to the Austrian Imperial
Royal Yacht Squadron. and last. but not least
the sale OF the Thistle to the German Emperor
greatly helped to encourage sport In the Ger
man Imperial Yacht Club. ~
Other European clubs Of recognized im2,ort,
yoile, the YACHT Club de France, Societe de
ltegats du llayre, and the clubs at Nice.
Dinard. Trouyille. and Arcachon: I'm Germany,
besides the Imperial, the Norddeutscher Re.
Satta- Neroin. and begel Club Rhe in Portugal.
Real Ass2ciacao Naval; the Royal Netherlands.
and tho Royal belgian
In America yacht racing Is as popular as In
England. and many Of the improvements that
have been made In designing and building are
in great measure due to the ingenuity Of our
COUSINS across the Atlantic. The nited States
clubs number seventy. OF which the principal
are the New York. the Boston. the Knicker-
booker. the Buffalo, the Larchmont, and the
eawanh9ka- Corinthian. Taxing steam and
sail together there are upward OF 300 yachts.
That yachting has not lost its character OF a