| Main Purpose: | Short Haul - Commerce |
|---|---|
| Length: | 10.5 m |
| Breadth: | 4 m |
| Capacity: | 50 |
| Armament: | 0 Guns |
Ship Created by: Marion "van Ghent" Edwards
"YACHT � a boat with decks & rigged fore-and-aft, which ordinarily sports a great mast, a mast in front, & a sort of bowsprit, with a gaff-sail like a hoy, & a stay-sail. It draws very little water & is excellent for small voyages. One is accustomed to using them for promenades & short crossings."
Thus did Nicolas Aubin define the yacht in his Dictionnaire de marine, contenant les termes de la navigation et de l'architecture navale of 1742 � likely unchanged from the first edition, published some 40 years earlier. However, the term yacht had already changed much in usage in the 150 years or so prior to his dictionary, and was to continue to change during the course of the next century.
Originally, the term yacht (often spelled jacht or jagt) referred to any small, fast craft � being derived from the Dutch word jagen, to hunt or chase. In practice, this usually meant a small three-masted, full-rigged ship, smaller than a pinnace but large enough to be completely decked-over. This was the kind of ship that the great explorers of the early 1600's favored: Willem Janszoon's Duyfken, which brought Australia its first Western visitors in 1606, was a yacht. Abel Tasman commanded a similar vessel � the 80-ton Heemskerck � when he first sighted the coast of New Zealand 36 years later. And Henry Hudson borrowed the 112-ton Halve Maan (a.k.a. Half Moon) for his 1609 journey of discovery to North America. All of these ships had the ideal qualities of being fast, nimble, seaworthy � and roomy enough for several men and several months of supplies. This was eminently proved by the 1999 replica of the Duyfken, painstakingly reconstructed based on the most recent research into early Dutch naval architecture.
Yachts also saw some naval service in the early 17th century. The Duyfken in fact played a role in the critical battle with the Portuguese at Bantam (now in Indonesia) in 1601, helping to put an end to Iberian dominance of the spice trades. The Dutch particularly favored yachts as armed tenders, and several � such as the 74-foot Graaf Willem and the 106-foot Gloeyenden Oven � took part in the first Anglo-Dutch War (1652-1654). However, as warships continued to grow in size, ketches, brigs, and frigates tended to take over the duties of the small yachts and larger pinnaces. The yacht continued to serve, however, as fast courier ships � known as advies-jachten, literally "advice yachts," right into the Napoleonic era.
The history of the yacht is far from purely martial, however: for along with the yacht, the Dutch invented yachting.
Boating for pleasure is, of course, nearly as old as boating itself. As early as 3,000 BCE, Egyptian pharaohs were buried alongside elegant and slender oared barges intended to carry them through the heavens in the afterlife � built in the same regal style as the ships in which they cruised the Nile. These ships were no small feat of workmanship, measuring up to 130 feet and carefully fitted together without the use of nails. And since wood was scarce � imported from Lebanon � such vessels were most certainly a royal prerogative. This remained the case for centuries.
It wasn't until the late 1500's that water-borne recreation took on a more human scale � and a less aristocratic mien. It should be no surprise that this transformation took place in that most maritime of countries, the United Provinces of the Netherlands. For centuries, the Netherlands had depended upon and cultivated its numerous waterways as its primary means of transportation, both of goods and of people. The successful opening of trade with the Indies brought vast wealth to whole sectors of Dutch society, and it was only natural that this bounty expressed itself on the sea.
Even prior to the "great boom" of the early 1600's, many of the Netherlands' small, open- or half-decked craft � such as the round-sterned kaag � were often used as pleasure craft. It was an easy and natural progression to deck them over and provide for a small cabin, usually aft, but occasionally in the middle of the boat. As Dutch town-dwellers grew more affluent, more and more of these craft were being built exclusively for pleasure. By 1620 hundreds of yachts were plying Holland's canals and its inland sea � some owned by the Dutch East India Company and its officers, but many more owned by shareholders and other indirect beneficiaries. As early as 1630, boisterous racing competitions were being staged, often pitting neighboring cities against each other in friendly rivalries. Waterborne parades and even mock-battles became a staple of Dutch entertainment culture; even their pleasure-yachts celebrated the country's naval prowess by carrying cannon.
This joy of sailing soon to spread across the Channel through one of history's many ironic twists. Though England's elite were familiar with small sailing craft � in 1589 Queen Elisabeth could enjoy the diminutive Rat o' Wight, built to commemorate her navy's victory over the Spanish in the previous year � tamer barges were preferred. The trend was slowly beginning to change: Phineas Pett, who was later to build James I's celebrated warship Royal Prince, began his royal patronage with a 28-foot replica of the Ark Royal for Crown Prince Henry. In an ironic twist, the catalyst for pleasure sailing in England was one of its most trying times: the Civil War.
Charles II was 16 when first removed to an island off the coast of France for his � and the Royal lineage's � security. There he began sailing to pass the time, and a deep and lasting love of the sea was kindled in him. After a failed attempt to avenge his executed father and reclaim control of England in 1649, he was forced into exile, travelling in disguise to Brighton (then called Brighthelmstone), where he chartered the 31-foot collier Surprise to make the crossing to safety in France. He soon moved to Holland, where his delight in sailing was readily and constantly fulfilled.
Upon his return to England in 1660, the Dutch East India Company presented Charles II with a handsome gift: a 66-foot yacht, finely decorated, provided with 6 3-pound guns and leeboards in the Dutch style. The King was to name this fine vessel after his sister, Mary � a fond if ironic gesture, since Mary herself hated sailing and was terribly prone to seasickness. The King commissioned several more yachts, as did his brother James, Duke of York, commencing a royal patronage of the sport that was to last down to modern times. Charles II even sought out the tiny Surprise and bought her, converting her into a yacht � appropriately rechristened as the Royal Escape.
The yacht's most unusual story, however, undoubtedly is to be found in Russia. In the 17th century Russia had but one seaport, at Archangel in the oft-frozen north. Yet at the age of 16, Tsar Peter the Great discovered the hulk of a sailing yacht allegedly given to Ivan the Terrible by Queen Elisabeth nearly a century before. Having befriended a Dutch merchant, he acquired some skilled workers to help restore the vessel � vigorously setting himself to the task at their side. The nearby Yauza river did not satisfy the young Tsar however; first he built a shipyard at Lake Pleschev, 85 miles northwest of the Kremlin, and eventually pushed on to Archangel itself. There, again working with his own hands alongside common laborers, he helped to build an armed seagoing yacht. Christened the St. Peter, it was to be Russia's first naval ship, being used to escort Dutch and English traders in and out of port in addition to serving as the Tsar's personal toy.
Thus, during the 17th century, yachting began to flourish across Europe. Vessels of all kinds were commissioned as yachts to the wealthy and powerful, from diminutive open boats to small frigates. Yachts were instrumental in discovering new lands and defending vital waterways. They served both as pleasure craft and as working ships, carrying people and messages swiftly and comfortably from shore to shore. And to this day, people around the world enjoy this "sport of kings," both on small lakes and rivers and on the large open sea.
This article written by Marion "van Ghent" Edwards.
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