FACTS AND INFORMATION ABOUT sailing and the America's cup

Sailing can be dated as far back as prehistoric times. They would be used for means of travel, fishing, or for recreational use. Sailing is when ships us the strong force of the wind through sails to drive the boat to move at fast speeds.

In ancient times, you would only find the upper or more privileged classes of Asia, Greece, Rome and Egypt to be sailing the beautifully decorated and extravagantly massive ships at that time.  It wasn’t until the early 17^th century that the art of sailing became a sport by Holland.  The Dutch would sail smaller boats that ranged up to 65 feet. They would name these boats “Yaghtschip”, which means “Hunting Ship”. Today we now call them Yachts.

 It was not long after sailing was popularized in Holland that they had given a yacht as a gift to Charles II in England. It did not take long for sailing to become a main sport in England and finally expanded to the American Colonies. This is when the beginning of world competitions began.

 Just like any other sport, sailors would gather together socially to one place and discuss future and past competitions, yachts, and any other social aspect of that time. This brought forth the beginning of the oldest clubs known around the world as, “Yacht Clubs”. The world’s first yacht club was founded in Cork, Ireland in 1720. One of the most famous and oldest running Yacht Clubs in the world would be America’s New York Yacht Club. This club was founded in 1844.