Hubbry Logo
search
logo
1520913

Sailing yacht

logo
Community Hub0 Subscribers
Write something...
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
See all
Sailing yacht

A sailing yacht (US ship prefixes SY or S/Y), is a yacht that uses sails as its primary means of propulsion. The term applies to recreational sailing vessels as opposed to a "boat".

Sailing yachts are actively used in sport and are among categories recognized by the governing body of sailing sports, World Sailing.

The term yacht originates from the Dutch word jacht (pl. jachten, which means "hunt"), and originally referred to light, fast sailing vessels that the Dutch Republic navy used to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries.

The history of pleasure boats begins with rowed craft in Pharaonic Egyptian times. The history of sailing yachts begins in Europe in the beginning of the 1600s with the building of a pleasure vessel for the son of King James I of England. Pleasure vessels acquired the name yacht after the time of Charles II, who spent time exiled in Europe and visited the Netherlands, where a variety of jachten were already well developed as pleasure boats for the elite classes since the beginning of the 17th century. Upon his restoration to the English crown, Charles commissioned a series of royal yachts, which included at least one experimental catamaran. The first recorded yacht race between two vessels occurred in 1661, followed by the first open sailing competition in 1663 in English waters.

Starting in 1739, England found itself in a series of wars—a period that saw a decline in yachting. In Ireland, however, the gentry enjoyed yachting and founded the first yacht club in Cork as the Cork Harbor Water Club in 1720, followed by the Lough Ree Yacht Club in 1770. English yacht racing continued among the English gentry who founded England's oldest yacht club in 1775 to support a fleet at Cumberland. With maritime peace, starting in 1815, came a resurgence of interest in yachting. Boatbuilders, who had been making fast vessels both for smugglers and the government revenue cutters, turned their skills again to yachts.

The fast yachts of the early 19th century were typically luggers, schooners, or sloops with fore-and-aft rigs. By the 1850s, yachts featured large sail areas, a narrow beam, and a deeper draft than was customary until then. Racing between yachts owned by wealthy patrons was common, with large wagers at stake. The America's Cup arose out of a contest between the yacht, America, and its English competitors. Both countries had rules by which to rate yachts, the English by tonnage and the American by length.

English and American design philosophies for sailing yachts diverged in the early 1800s: the English favoring a narrow beam (width) and a deep-draft keel and the Americans favoring a broad beam and a shallow draft with a moveable centerboard to provide lateral resistance and righting moment. In 1851, when the yacht America crossed to England, the two design philosophies were converging back towards each other. America's pointed, convex bow and maximum beam, placed aft, influenced British designs, thanks to her racing successes against the British competition. American yachtsmen, in turn, found that their shallow "skimming-dish" designs were not faster or safer than the visiting English yachts.

By the turn of the 20th century, racing yachts featured long overhangs, fore and aft, and a narrow, deep keel by historic standards. Along the way, yacht designers discovered that handicapping rules based on tonnage or length were not good indicators of performance, although they remained a basis for taxation in the two home countries.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.