Yachting as a sport

Racing sailing boats is believed to have started in the Netherlands some time in the 17th century. It soon made its way to England where custom-built racing "yachts" began to emerge. In 1851, a challenge to an American yacht racing club in New York led to the beginning of the America's Cup, a regatta won by the New York Yacht Club until 1983, when they finally lost to Australia II. Meanwhile, yacht racing continued to evolve, with the development of recognised classes of racing yachts, from small dinghies up to huge maxi yachts.

These days, yacht racing and dinghy racing are common participant sports around the developed world, particularly where favourable wind conditions and access to reasonably sized bodies of water are available. Most yachting is conducted in salt water, but smaller craft can be - and are - raced on lakes and even large rivers.

There are many different types of racing vessels, they can generally be separated into the larger yachts, which are larger and contain facilities for extended voyages, and smaller harbour racing craft such as dinghies and skiffs.