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As the Dutch rose to preeminence in sea power during the 17th century, the first yacht became a pleasure craft used mostly by royalty and later by the burghers on the canals and the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Yacht racing was incidental, borne from private matches. English yachting originated with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low Countries. On his restoration to the English monarchy in 1660, the city of Amsterdam presented him with a 20-metre (66-foot) pleasure boat with a beam (maximum width) of 5.6 m (18 feet), which he called Mary. Charles and his brother James, the duke of York (James II, sovereign 1685–88), built additional yachts and in 1662 raced two of them from the Thames, from Greenwich, to Gravesend, and returning, on a £100 bet. Yachting rose as classy among the rich and nobility, but after that point the habit did not last.

The first yacht group in the British Isles, the Water Club, was formed around about 1720 at Cork, Ire., as a cruising and unofficial coast guard group, with great naval panoply and rigour. The closest thing to a race was the “chase,” when the “fleet” pursued an imagined enemy. The club endured, mostly as a social club, until 1765, and in 1828, after conglomerating with other societies, it became known as the Cork Yacht Club (later the Royal Cork Yacht Club).

Yacht racing was first seen in some ordered manner on the Thames about the mid-18th century. The duke of Cumberland founded the Cumberland Fleet for Thames racing in 1775. When George IV ascended to the throne in 1820, it was then called the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded following a racing fight, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht organisation had been formed at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1815, and royal patronage made the Solent - the strait between the mainland and the Isle of Wight - the continuing site of British yachting. The association at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, again at the rise of George IV. Every member was required to possess boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing races for high bids were held, and the society life was wonderful. Ultimately Royal Yachting Club boats increased in size to over 350 tons.

In North America, yachting started with the Dutch in New York in the 17th century and persisted when the English gained power. Sailing was for the most part for leisure and found its epitome in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which cruised on the Mediterranean Sea and established a benchmark of luxury and elegance for the later yachts in that area from the late 19th century. The first persisting American yacht society, the Detroit Boat Club, was started in 1839. In 1844, John C. Stevens founded the New York Yacht Club while on board his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
The first sailing yachts were within the lines of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century through to the second half of the 19th century. The craft of large yachts was initially greatly impacted by the success of America, which was created by George Steers for a association led by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) found its namesake after its success at Cowes in 1851. Early yachts were not designed and manufactured in today’s sense, with only a model for an outline. Not until the latter half of the 19th century did what was known as naval architecture come about. Not until the 1920s did the application of the science of aerodynamics do for the craft of sails and rigging what science had already done for hulls.

Because nearly all sailboats had to be individually custom-built, there arose a requirement for handicapping boats as this was previous to the one-design class boats were built. Hence, a rating rule came into being, which is found in the International Rule, taken on in 1906 and edited in 1919. In modern times, one of the most rapidly blossoming areas in sailing is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are manufactured to the same dimensions in length, beam, sail area, and other areas (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing between those boats can be done on an even keel with no handicapping necessary. A perfect example is the standard International America’s Cup Class taken on for participants in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

So long as yachting was done mostly for the royal and the wealthy, money was no problem, and the size of boats grew, in both length and weight. The rise and popularity of smaller craft happened in the second half of the 19th century out of the sailing of the Englishmen R.T. McMullen, a stockbroker, and E.F. Knight, a barrister and journalist. A voyage around the world (1895–98) captained single-handedly by the naturalized American captain Joshua Slocum in the 11.3-metre Spray made plain the hardiness of less sizeable boats. Thereafter in the 20th century, for the larger part after World War II, smaller racing and leisure yachts became more popular, down to the dinghy, a preferred training boat, of 3.7 m. In the late 20th century, craft of less than 3 m were sailed single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
Following the decade 1840–50, when steam began to take the place of sail power in commercial vessels, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were employed increasingly in leisure vessels. Bigger power yachts were developed to a high degree, and long-distance cruising became a favourite pastime of the well off. The early power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; those then gave way to those powered by the completely submerged screw or propeller type of propulsion. As well as naval and merchant craft, auxiliaries with both sail and power were the yacht standard for many years. By the latter half of the 20th century, a lot of yachts were still auxiliaries, but the larger part were exclusively power yachts that had gasoline or diesel engines.

During the last decade of the 19th century there was a rise in the design of bigger steam yachts. In particular of these was the Mayflower (1897) of 2,690 tons, that had triple-expansion engines, twin screws, and a compartmented iron hull, and was manned by a crew of over 150. The Mayflower, commissioned by the United States Navy in 1898, was the official yacht of the president of the United States until 1929 and saw active service during World War II.

As bigger and more dependable internal-combustion engines were developed, many bigger craft started using them for power. The development of the diesel engine, using heavy oil for fuel, progressed from World War I. In the decade following, large power-yacht creation blossomed, hitting a climax in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. During that point the best auxiliary yacht constructed was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The manufacture of bigger power yachts declined in 1932, and the style thereafter was in preference of smaller, less expensive craft. After World War II, many small naval boats were bought by private owners for conversion to yachts. By the late 20th century, yachting has become a widespread popular competition enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen individually owning and upkeeping their own small pleasure yachts. The number of craft and sailors has increased steadily, not only in the traditional locations along the beach but also on inland waterways and lakes.

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