A new history of yachting

"This book, by a leading expert in the field, is the first major history of yachting for over a quarter of a century. Setting developments within political, social and economic changes, the book tells the story of yachting from Elizabethan times to the present day: the first uses of yachts, by monarchs, especially Charles II; yacht clubs and yacht racing in the eighteenth century; the early years of the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes and an analysis of the America Cup challenges; the pioneering developments in Ireland and the exporting of yachting to the colonies and trading outposts of the Empire; the expansion of yachting in Victorian times; the Golden Age of Yachting in the years before the First World War, when it was the sport of the crowned heads of Europe; the invention of the dinghy and the keelboat classes and, after the Second World War, the massive numbers of home-built dinghies; the breaking of new boundaries by risk-taking single-handers from the mid-1960s; the expansion of leisure sailing that came in the 1980s with the use of moulded plastic yachts; and current trends and pressures within the sport. Well-referenced yet highly readable, this book will be of interest both to the scholar and the sailing enthusiast."--

Stirrings and beginnings -- Restoration yachting and its purposes -- The development of yachting in the eighteenth century, part one : the seaside towns -- The development of yachting in the eighteenth century, part two : yachting in Boom Time London -- The Landed Gentry take up yachting -- The slow expansion of yachting in Britain, 1815-1870 -- The development of yachting in Ireland and the colonies -- The enthusiastic adoption of yachting by the mercantile and professional classes after 1870, part one : the new men -- The enthusiastic adoption of yachting by the mercantile and professional classes after 1870, part two : a philosophy of yachting for the new men -- The golden age of yachting, 1880-1900, part one : the rich -- The golden age of yachting, 1880-1900, part two : small boats and women sailors -- Between the wars -- 1945-1965 : home-built dinghies and going offshore -- Yachting's third 'golden period' : of heroes and heroines; of families and marinas, 1965-1990 -- The summer before the dark : yachting in post-modern times, 1990-2007 -- After the crash -- Epilogue : fair winds.