The History of the Yacht

The term “yacht” derives from the Dutch word “Jacht” which means hunt. The original role of these boats was military, as the Dutch navy and government used them to chase pirates and law breakers, to collect custom duties, and to deliver crew to larger ships. Because the waters around Holland and her neighboring countries is shallow, they needed this type of light and quick sailing ship. These wooden hulled, flat-bottomed boats proved ideal for the task, given the conditions of the sea and coast. Due to government use in delivering crews to larger ships, many wealthy merchants built fleets of these ships used to greet their major shipping vessels, acting as smaller crew and cargo transports. From there, wealthy merchants began to use these boats privately for pleasure trips.

The development of the “yacht” by the dawn of the seventeenth century produced two main branches of these craft, the “speel-jachts” used for sporting and luxury and the “oorlog-jachts” used by the military. Within fifty years large fleets of these ships were located up and down the Dutch coast, with both public and private ‘reviews’ organized by various state agencies in existence. These fleets ranged from private racing and leisure sailing ships to ‘war’ and combat vessels.
Upon his exile, Charles the II settled in Holland. He quickly became taken with the sport of sailing. His favored ship was the ‘speel-jachts’ which he learned to handle quickly and well. When his exile was lifted, it was his natural inclination to chose this type of ship as his transport home. When the yacht was chosen to serve as the ship to take the exiled Charles II back to England from Holland in 1660, the ship’s popularity was assured. Not only were these small, quick ships adopted by the rich across Europe, but they became entrenched in the British Royal Fleet when Charles II ordered 24 of them crafted to go with the two that the Dutch states had given him. As a man keen on sailing, he was credited with the rise in popularity and spread of yachting throughout Europe. This trend preserved the yacht when the Dutch military decline removed the need for them as pirate chasers. Soon the yacht became known solely as a private luxury vessel and the sport of yachting the pursuit of the wealthy.

The <a href=”https://en.wikipedia online project management.org/wiki/Yacht” target=”_blank”>yacht today comes in two main categories. There are sailing and motor versions. While size varies a great deal, what sets the yacht apart is their leisure use. The modern ship can be made of wood, steel, fiberglass, aluminum, carbon fiber, or ferro-cement. The most common size for a privately owned one is between twenty-three and forty-six feet, with the cost of upkeep being higher for the larger ships. Motor vessels may use either a mono-hull or a multi-hull design. The sailing versions usually stick to a flat-bottomed, wide beamed hull coupled with modern sailing rigs that can allow the fastest ones to reach up to 35 knots.

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