Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-08
EARLY YACHTS.
A Dutch Invention That Was I'm
ported Into Great Britain.


From the Outlook.
yacht Is one Of many marine terms
imported into English (and indeed every
European language) from the Dutch. 1t is
derived from the verb '.jachten, jagen," to
hurry, to chase to hunt. And, like the
word. so the sport Of yachting-that is.
taking UP sailing for Its own sake as a
manly exercise-originated In Holland.
The Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans had
their pleasure craft propelled by the gal
ley slave however. these floating barges
had merely some ornamental SAIL There
is no evidence that even those superb
shipwrights of Venice and Genoa were ever
employed by the amateur sailor of the
fifteenth century On the other hand, it
Is quite certain that before 1900 the
"jacht," a ship not for purposes of either
commerce or war was known in Holland.
The absolute fatness of the country Its
great network OF inland waterways, the
proximity Of many hourishing towns, had
always favored navigation. In their life
and death struggle with Spain the Dutch
made the waters their bulwarks on the
water they wrested the sceptre of colonial
empire from Philips hand, and in the flush
of victory 1t became the favorite scene of
their recreations.
Especial mention Is made by the chron-
iclers of yachts belonging to the Earl Of
Leicester during his stay in the Neither
lands Q5S5-15SS) and to Maurice of Orange.
We know their inventories, but unfor-
tunately no pictures have been preserved
The growing popularity of the sport is tes-
tilted to. by the fact that In 1877 haroor
for yachts was laid out In Amsterdam
and it was soon followed by two others.
These harbors were undoubtedly the first
of their kind IN the world. The yacht own
ers formed three chartered guilds, with
regular constitutions and officers, after the
manner of the time, and once year they
kept holiday. Those were the palmy days
of magnificent PROFESSIONS gitterlng
groups, living pictures or the gulios OF
rhetoric in which Motley Is eloquent. They
had their counterpart on the river Y be-
fore Amsterdam. Every year or two con-
secutive days IN July the guilds sQuadrons
sailed forth to hold their grand paraaes
mimic fights and concerted maneuvering
This Standardization" as 1t was called
dates from the fifteenth century. The mer-
chantmen engaged in the Baltic trade COM
bined in large fleets. and had to arrange
for their own defense against enemies
With this end in view, they were annually
drilled by an admiral. In later times the
duty OF protection devolved on the regu-
lar navy, but the name and practlce or
adniraalzeilen was retained, and survives
till this day.
King Charles II. may be said to have in
troduced the sailing sport In england.
During his long exile in the Netherlands
he acquired a good knowledge OF ships,
and he had, moreover, all the instincts of
a yachtsman. At Breda, where he hap
pened to be when restored to the throne,
he received a special embassy from the
Dutch states general. "A hotilla or yachts
was put at the disposal of the king and
his suite Charles Travelled to The Hague
in O. yacht built for the Prince of Orange,
and eMpr essed himself so delighted with 1t
that the states then begged to present him
with one like it. 1t is in this yacht Mary
which Samuel Pepys mentions In his diary
as making its appearance on the Thames
In 1860. 1t was fifty-two feet long. mad
nineteen feet beam and drew ten feet of
water. In 1861 another yacht from Hol-
land, the Bean. followed. All the first
English yachts were close copies Of these
boats Indeed. when In 1l2o the nrst Eng
iisb YACHT club was founded, the Cork Har-
bor Water Club, the Skerry-Hooker was
the popular yacht and very Dutch look
ing craft Ii was