The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-29
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS


 ing the Dutch jagt, swift vessel. from Jagen, to chase. to hunt. It seems to have been introduced into England in 1860, when the Dutch presented Charles II with yacht
 What wonderful storehouse is Pepys Diary If only such a diarist could be found, each generation ought to have one like the curious and interested old Eng fish chronicler who went about London with open eyes and set down just the things the average man likes to read about
 On October 1, 1661 in his Diary is found the following item: q sailed this morning with his majesty in one of his yachts tor pleasure boats), vessels not known among us till the Dutch East India Company pre- sented that curious piece to the king It is just such recorded incidents which make it possible for later historians to get data for their histories.
 But ten years later there is yet an- other reference which confirms the Dutch origin of yachts, for in Blounts Clos sographia Qe7Op we read: Yacht, Dutch vessel or pleasure boat about the bigness of a barge" Later still, in 1706, E. Phil lips is authority for the statement: Yacht. a small sort of ship, built rather for swiftness and pleasure than for mer- chandzing or warlike service"
 
 Of gail- ing, for he designed a yacht of twenty five tons called the Jamie" built at Lambeth in 1862, as we'll as several others later on. The first recorded yacht race was between Charles II and his brother, the Duke of York, in which the Jamie" was matched for a1o0 against a Dutch built one The course was from Green wich to Gravesend and back. The Jamie" beat her Dutch rival, the king steering part of the time. Arthur H. Clark, in his History of Yachting" QsoD, traces the history of pleasure craft from 1900 to 1915, and gives an interesting il- lustrated account of the yachts belonging to Charles II.
 The first authentic record Of Salllng club is in 1720, when the Cork Harbor Water Club, now known as the Royal Cork Yacht Club, was established in Ire land But 200 years ago, when it came into existence, the yachts were small. Maitland, in his History of London" G739), mentions sailing and rowing on the Thames among the amusements in- dulged in. I have found variance in some of the dates in trying to get at the bottom of the history of yatchting.
 Joseph Strut, the author who in his Sports and Pastimes of the People Of Ireland" dS0D, made no mention of prize fighting or boxing, gives us picture of boating, saying that the Cumberland So- ciety, consisting of gentlemen partial to this pastime, gave yearly a cup to be sailed for in the vicinity of London. The boats usually started from Blacktriars Bridge, went up the Thames to Putney and returned to Vauxhall no doubt, mere sailing boats and not yachts or decked vessels. I do, however, find an account of ten boats starting on a fifty-mile race in the Bristol channel, under the auspices of the Bristol Sailing Society.
 But from the middle to the end of the eighteenth century, yachting developed very slowly although matches were sailed at Cowes as far back as 17s0. but authorities say that very few yachts of any size, say thirty-five tons, existed in 1900, there or elsewhere. In 1872 the Royal Yacht Squadron was established by fifty yacht owners at Cowes and was called the Yacht Club, altered to the Royal Yacht Club in 1920: but no regular re- gatta was held there until some years later. Popularity, however, came before 1S43 when Queen Victoria took an inter est in the sport by the offer of cups for competition; but yacht racing is devel- opment of the nineteenth century, espe- cially of it's latter half. Of the many yacht clubs now in existence only the Royal Cork Yacht Club and the Royal Thames Yacht Club can trace their his- tory back to a period before the nine teenth century.
 It is we'll to bear in mind that for long period extending well into the nine teenth century, yachting was closly con- nected in England with naval defense, and private yachts were generally con- strUcted to carry guns and to be used in case of need for naval warfare. Private individuals were thus entitled to contrib ute to national defense, not only directly by forming a kind of volunteer fleet but also indirectly by leading the way in the of our rich Americans, both in the Span sh-American and late war, put their magnificent yachts at the disposal of the government.
 In 1882, the Emerald, the fastest cutter in the royal navy, was defeated in racing and sailing contest with the Paddy . From Cork, a yacht belonging to pri- vate member of the famous Water Club i of Cork, and in consequence the head of the government school of naval arcni- lecture in Portsmouth was deputed to measure several private yachts with a view to improving the construction of vessels for the navy. In the following ! year the Water Witch, vessel similar to the 10o-ton brigs of the navy. built for Lord Belfast proved herself faster ! than any vessel in the royal navy. and 1 better than any of her kind for purposes l of warfare.