As the Dutch came to dominance in sea power during the 17th century, the first yacht had been a pleasure craft used mostly by royalty and then by the burghers on the canals and then in the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Racing yachts was incidental, coming out of private challenges. English yachting began with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low Countries. On his restoration to the English throne in 1660, the city of Amsterdam gave him a 20-metre (66-foot) pleasure boat with a beam (maximum width) of 5.6 m (18 feet), which he then named Mary. Charles and his brother James, the duke of York (James II, sovereign 1685–88), made more yachts and in 1662 raced two of them from the Thames, from Greenwich, to Gravesend, and the same way back, on a £100 wager. Yachting was found to be popular for the affluent and aristocracy, but after that point the fashion did not last.

The first yacht group in the British Isles, the Water Club, was instigated at about 1720 at Cork, Ire., as a cruising and unofficial coast guard association, and had large naval panoply and rigour. The closest thing to racing boats was the “chase,” when the “fleet” pursued an imaginary enemy. The club endured, largely as a social club, until 1765, and in 1828, after merging with other clubs, it was known as the Cork Yacht Club (later the Royal Cork Yacht Club).

Yacht racing was seen in some organized method on the Thames in the mid-18th century. The duke of Cumberland founded the Cumberland Fleet for Thames racing in 1775. When George IV came to monarchy in 1820, it was named the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded with a racing fight, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht association had been started at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1815, and royal sponsorship made the Solent - the strait between the mainland and the Isle of Wight - the continuing site of British yachting. The organisation at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, likewise at the ascension of George IV. Every member was required to own boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing tests for large bids were held, and the society life was wonderful. Ultimately Royal Yachting Club boats grew in size to more than 350 tons.

In North America, yachting started with the Dutch in New York in the 17th century and persisted when the English gained control. Sailing was largely for pleasure and found its epitome in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which traveled on the Mediterranean Sea and created a standard of luxury and sophistication for the later yachts in that area from the late 19th century. The first persisting American yacht club, the Detroit Boat Club, was started in 1839. In 1844, John C. Stevens founded the New York Yacht Club aboard his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
The Early sailing yachts followed the design of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century until the second half of the 19th century. The style of large yachts was first greatly impacted by the success of America, which was drawn by George Steers for a association started by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) had its namesake after its win at Cowes in 1851. The first yachts were not designed and crafted in the modern sense, with merely a model for an outline. Not until the later half of the 19th century did what was known as naval architecture come about. Not until the 1920s did the use of the research of aerodynamics do for the structure of sails and rigging what science had earlier done for hulls.

Because almost all sailboats had been individually custom-built, there came a need for handicapping boats previous to the one-design class boats were built. Therefore, a rating rule was written, which resulted in the International Rule, accepted in 1906 and amended in 1919. Today, one of the fastest blossoming areas in sailing is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are created to single specifications in length, beam, sail area, and other elements (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing for these boats can be done on an even keel with no handicapping necessary. A great example is the uniform International America’s Cup Class adopted for racers in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

For the time that yachting was done primarily for the royal and the affluent, expense was no object, and the size of boats grew, in both length and weight. The ascendancy and desire of smaller craft happened in the latter half of the 19th century in the sailing of the Englishmen R.T. McMullen, a stockbroker, and E.F. Knight, a barrister and journalist. A journey around the world (1895–98) led single-handedly by the naturalized American captain Joshua Slocum in the 11.3-metre Spray proved the hardiness of less sizeable yachts. Later in the 20th century, notably after World War II, smaller racing and recreational craft became more common, down to the dinghy, a preferred training boat, of 3.7 m. In the late 20th century, boats of less than 3 m were sailed single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
Following the decade 1840–50, in which steam was set to emulate sail power in market vessels, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were employed more and more in pleasure craft. Bigger power yachts were developed to a high element, and long-distance travel became a favoured activity of the affluent. The first power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; those then made way to yachts powered by the wholly submerged screw or propeller type of propulsion. As well as naval and merchant vessels, auxiliaries carrying both sail and power were the yacht fashion for several years. By the later half of the 20th century, a lot of yachts were still auxiliaries, but the majority were solely power yachts that had gasoline or diesel engines.

During the last decade of the 19th century there was a push in the manufacture of large steam yachts. Notably within these was the Mayflower (1897) of 2,690 tons, that had triple-expansion engines, twin screws, and a compartmented iron hull, and was operated by a crew of more than 150. The Mayflower, bought by the United States Navy in 1898, was the official yacht of the president of the United States until 1929 and was used in active service in World War II.

As bigger and more dependable internal-combustion engines were produced, many large craft started using them for power. The creation of the diesel engine, with heavy oil for fuel, advanced from World War I. From the decade after, large power-yacht creation flourished, hitting a climax in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. From that period the largest auxiliary yacht built was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The construction of large power boats fell away after 1932, and the fashion from then was for smaller, less expensive yachts. After World War II, many small naval vessels were bought by private owners for conversion to yachts. At the late 20th century, yachting has become a internationally loved activity enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen individually sailing and keeping their own small pleasure boats. The number of craft and yachtsmen is increasing steadily, not only in the traditional areas along the beach but also on inland waterways and lakes.

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