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Yacht History

When Charles II was invited by Parliament to return as regent to Britain, he reasoned that the people of Britain wanted the best spectacle that he could manage. For the voyage across the channel from the protestant Netherlands he chose a sleek, fine-looking Dutch jachtschip, or "pursuit ship", which served the purpose admirably. Restoration day was a great success. Charles kept the jacht, or yacht, which was the first of its kind, and with it established the sport of yachting, one of his many firsts, and the royal family has had an official yacht ever since. Charles loved boating and advanced it considerably, to Britain's great advantage, as is shown by the evacuation from Dunkirk in early World War II. The yacht had many imitators.

The use of the yacht as a pleasure boat began with Charles II of Britain, as is mentioned in the introduction to this article. The origin of pleasure-boating, including royal pleasure-boating, is lost in prehistory. Many ancient monarchs are said by the sources to have had pleasure boats, some quite spectacular. Before Charles II the Jachtschip was a pursuit ship used by the Dutch to overtake pirates. Charles' preference for a vessel of this type for his return combined with his later patronage of pleasure-boating gave the sport the specific cast that we call "yachting."

Yachting for pleasure was formerly the province of the wealthy due to expense and the manpower required (because the boats were big), but today has become the pastime of many worldwide. King Charles II of England is mentioned as enjoying the sport in the diaries of Samuel Pepys. In Britain, the sport of yachting became widely popular in the late Victorian (1837-1901) period. Queen Victoria and her family maintained a fleet of sail- and steam-yachts at her residence on the Isle of Wight. The town of Cowes on the island is still seen by many as the world home of yachting, hosting the famous Cowes Week sailing festival in the summer. Like most other yachting festivals, this consists mainly of organised yacht racing by both dedicated racing yachts and a series of 'class' events catering for the wide variety of non-dedicated yachts.

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