sailing

sailing, as a sport, the art of navigating a sailboat for recreational or competitive purposes.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• History of Sport Sailing
• Racing Classes
• Bibliography

Although sailing as a means of transportation predates history, sport sailing—or yachting—seems to have originated in the 17th cent. in Holland. From there it was introduced into England (c.1660) by Charles II, and eventually spread to the American colonies. Then, as now, it was common for sport sailors to join together for social and recreational purposes in groups known as yacht clubs. The world's first such club was founded (1720) at Cork, Ireland. The oldest continuously existing club in the United States is the New York Yacht Club (NYYC; founded 1844). In 1851 members of the NYYC raced the schooner America against British competitors around England's Isle of Wight. Victorious, they deeded their trophy to the NYYC. It became known as the America's Cup, giving its name to the oldest and most prestigious event in international sailboat racing. The United States won every America's Cup (the event has been held irregularly) between 1851 and 1983, when it was won by Australia. Since the 1980s radical changes in boat design, lawsuits involving Cup teams, and even charges of espionage and sabotage have transformed and roiled Cup competition; in 2013 and 2017 foiling wing-sailed catamarans were used. The United States regained the Cup in 1987, then lost it to New Zealand in 1995. New Zealand lost to Switzerland in 2003, the United States held it from 2010, and New Zealand regained it in 2017.

Ocean racing, an arduous and dangerous sport, especially in long-distance solo events, has gained increased notice. Major ocean racing events include the Newport-Bermuda Race, the Transpacific Race, the Volvo Ocean Race, the Vendée Globe, the Velux 5 Oceans Race, and the Clipper Race. Francis Chichester circumnavigated the globe alone in 1967, making only one stop; a year later nonstop around-the-world solo sailing was initiated by the Golden Globe race. Ocean racers now often sail advanced multihulled yachts and are usually aided by such modern technology as sophisticated communication devices and satellite-generated weather reports. Sailboat racing has also been part of the Olympic Games since 1900; at present Olympic sailors compete in nine classes ranging from sailboards 12 ft 1 in. (3.7 m) in length to 26-ft 9-in (8.2-m) sloops. Sailing, traditionally a sport of the wealthy, has been opened to wider participation by modern methods of boatbuilding.

There is no single “yacht type” of boat, rather many types that include sloops, yawls, catamarans, and ketches. The hundreds of different racing classes fall into three broad groups: one-design classes where very similar boats compete; handicap classes where dissimilar boats race, some with an advantageous time allowance; and rating classes where a variety of formulas take into account boat length, sail size, type of rig, and other factors. Sailboats originally had wooden hulls with sails made of sailcloth, a canvas commonly called duck. Today, however, fiberglass or carbon-fiber composite hulls, sometimes equipped with hydrofoils, and synthetic fabrics predominate; rigid wing sails, which resemble aircraft wings, are used in place of a fabric sail when a high speed is desired (as in windsurfing or boats used to set speed-sailing records).

Especially popular are the 16–23 ft (4.88–7.01 m) one-design boats; these are mass-produced craft made from a single blueprint and intended for the sailor of modest means. Races between one-design boats are thought to be a particularly good test of a crew's ability, to which, rather than to design, any variation in speed must, at least in theory, be attributable.

See D. Riggs, Keelhauled: Unsportsmanlike Conduct and the America's Cup (1986); G. C. Aymar, Yacht Racing Rules and Tactics (1990); R. Knox-Johnston, Yachting: The History of a Passion (1990); P. Nichols, Sea Change (1997) and A Voyage for Madmen (2001).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2025, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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