Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1893-11-16
ORIGIN OF YACHTING.
CHANGES IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
VESSELS IN 500 YEARS.

Evolution In the Popularity Of the Sport
The First International Race wss Be
tween English and Dutck vessels-
cknlss IL Anozs the Ksrtess Patrons.
The term yacht" is derived from the
Danish word "jsght, meaning chase;
hence yachting is the chasing of one ves-
eel after another. and accordingly yacht
ing and yacht racing are synonymous
expressions.
\. yacht is and always has been essen
tally pleasure craft, but in the early
days no yacht Of any size existed. Thus
we find a writer in 1706 referring to q
yacht as "s small ship built for swiftness
and pleasure rather than for merchan-
disc or wsrlike service" History does
not tell us where, when or under what
circumstances yachts were 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
but carefully compiled dictionary of sin
gulsr words, where yacht is described
as 50 pleasure craft Of not more than
100 tons for the kings use."
The earliest mention Of 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 q magnificent state barge, rigged
with purple sails and decorated with
wrought gold. Queen Elizabeth, we
know, frequently used state barge,
and so have successive sovereigns TO this
day. It is curious to relate, and goes
far to show the primitive nature of our
early resources, that while foreigners
were able to build yachts their example
was not followed in this country till
1883, when the first English yacht WAS
constructed at Cowes and launched
from that port.
But while 1888 may be fixed as the
commencement of yacht building in
England, it cannot be said that during
the next half century much progress was
made with the newly acquired industry.
Indeed, had it not been for Charles Ii,
it is probable that the trade would not
have been established for some time to
come. King Charles. however, wasvery
fond of sailing, and the Dutch East India
company, with the view of gaining royal
favor, presented him with small sloop
rigged vessel. The advent of the foreign
built vessel evidently stimulated native
talent, as we find Evelyn, in his diary of
Oct. /, 1861, writing, 81 sailed this morn
ing with his majesty in one of his yachts or
pleasure boats, vessels not known among
us till the Dutch East India company
presented that curious piece to the king"
But the king was not only yachtsman;
he was also designer, and drew the
lines of the Jamie, 25 tonner, built at
Lambeth, and raced her against the Be
zan, email Dutch built vessel belong
ing to the Duke of York.
The course was from Greenwich to
Gravesend and back and the prize e100,
which was won by the Bezan. AS the
ships were designed and constructed in
different countries the race may 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. Unfor-
tunately with the death Of Charles II
came another lull In the history of yacht
ing, and it 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
fsvorite yachting ground and during
the summer months was crowded with
dilninutive pleasure vessels. Indeed, 30
popular did the sport become that in 1720
the Cork Harbor Water club was formed
to encourage yacht racing. The club ul-
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.
A few years later the sport came into
favor in the south of England, and Matt
land, In his History of London" Q739).
refers to sailing as one of the amuse-
ments to be met with on the river
4uhkucos Wullo ldUCE BULL k1OOlI OIIutb,
in his well known work on sports and
Pastimes," mentions the existence Of a
society consisting of certain gentlemen
who gave a silver cup to be sailed for
annually in the vicinity Of London. To
ward the close Of the eighteenth century
Cowes became the favorite resort Of
yacht racing, but still the contending
vessels were Of small size, none being
over 50 tons II was not until the foun-
dation Of the yacht club. afterward the
Royal Yacht club and now the world re-
nowned Royal Yacht squadron, that
yachting in this country may fairly be
said to have established itself as ma
tional sport, and even then Qs12) the
number of yachts ahoat only reached 80.
all told. But from this time the popu-
larity of yachting rapidly grew, and club
after club followed In quick succession
London Times