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As the Dutch found preeminence in sea power during the 17th century, the early yacht became a leisure craft used first by royalty and later by the burghers in the canals as well as the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Racing was incidental, borne from private games. English yachting began with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low Countries. On his return to the English monarchy in 1660, the city of Amsterdam presented him with a 20-metre (66-foot) leisure 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), built additional yachts and in 1662 raced two of them from the Thames, from Greenwich, to Gravesend, and back, on a £100 punt. Yachting was found to be fashionable for the affluent and nobility, but after that time the habit did not last.

The first yacht group in the British Isles, the Water Club, was instigated around about 1720 at Cork, Ire., as a cruising and unofficial coast guard group, and held great naval panoply and formality. The closest thing to racing boats was the “chase,” in which the “fleet” pursued an imagined enemy. The club went on, largely as a social club, until 1765, and in 1828, after conglomerating with other groups, it became known as the Cork Yacht Club (later the Royal Cork Yacht Club).

Yacht racing was first seen in some stipulated method on the Thames around the mid-18th century. The duke of Cumberland funded the Cumberland Fleet for Thames racing in 1775. When George IV ascended to sovereignty in 1820, it was named the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded following a racing argument, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht club had been formed 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 setting of British racing. The club at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, also at the accession of George IV. Every member was required to possess boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing matches for large bets were held, and the society life was lovely. Ultimately Royal Yachting Club boats were raised in size to more than 350 tons.

In North America, yachting started with the Dutch in New York in the 17th century and went on when the English took control. Sailing was for the most part for pleasure and rose to its apogee in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which sailed on the Mediterranean Sea and established a standard of luxury and sophistication for the later yachts in that area from the late 19th century. The first persisting American yacht organisation, the Detroit Boat Club, was formed in 1839. In 1844, John C. Stevens began the New York Yacht Club while aboard his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
The Early sailing yachts were within the lines of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century through the later half of the 19th century. The craft of bigger yachts was originally heavily affected by the victory of America, which was created by George Steers for a association started by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) found its namesake after its victory at Cowes in 1851. Early yachts were not designed and built in a contemporary sense, with only a model being used. 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 such science had done earlier for hulls.

Because almost all sailboats had been individually built, there was a requirement for handicapping boats as this was previous to the one-design class boats were built. Hence, a rating rule was written, which is found in the International Rule, taken on in 1906 and edited in 1919. In the present day, one of the most rapidly flourishing areas in sailing is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are manufactured to the same requirements in length, beam, sail area, and other elements (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing between those boats can be held on an even par with no handicapping required. A great example is the generic International America’s Cup Class taken on for yachts in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

So long as yachting was an activity primarily for the aristocracy and the wealthy, expense was no issue, and the size of boats grew, in both length and weight. The ascendancy and desire of smaller yachts happened in the second 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 trip 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 smaller craft. Later in the 20th century, particularly after World War II, smaller racing and recreational yachts became commonplace, down to the dinghy, a popular training boat, of 3.7 m. In the late 20th century, yachts of less than 3 m were traveled in single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
Post the decade 1840–50, during which steam was set to take the place of sail power in market craft, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were increasingly favoured in pleasure craft. Sizeable power yachts were furthered to a high standard, and long-distance cruising became a favoured activity of the affluent. The first power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; these then made way to yachts powered by the fully submerged screw or propeller sort of propulsion. As well as naval and merchant craft, auxiliaries carrying both sail and power were the yacht standard for many years. By the later half of the 20th century, several yachts were still auxiliaries, but the majority were exclusively power yachts containing gasoline or diesel engines.

In the last decade of the 19th century there was a push in the design of large steam yachts. Conspicuous among these was the Mayflower (1897) of 2,690 tons, containing triple-expansion engines, twin screws, and a compartmented iron hull, and was manned by a crew of more than 150. The Mayflower, purchased 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 better quality internal-combustion engines were created, many large craft were using them for power. The creation of the diesel engine, employing heavy oil for fuel, advanced during World War I. In the decade after, large power-yacht manufacture flourished, climaxing in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. During that period the biggest auxiliary yacht constructed was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The manufacture of large power boats lessened after 1932, and the trend after that was in preference of smaller, less costly boats. After World War II, many small naval boats were traded by private owners for conversion to yachts. By the late 20th century, yachting has become a widespread popular sport enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen individually owning and maintaining their own small leisure craft. The popularity of boats and yachtsmen increased steadily, not only in the traditional areas by the seacoasts but also on inland waterways and lakes.

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