The oldest sea-going boat remains found anywhere come from Kuwait and date to the sixth and fifth millennia BC. From there the story runs through the square sails of the Nile, Pacific voyaging canoes, Arab dhows, Chinese junks and Viking longships, to the royal yachts of seventeenth-century England, the first yacht clubs and, in 1851, the race that became the America's Cup. The twentieth century added solo circumnavigations, round-the-world races, fiberglass, Dacron and, finally, boats that fly on foils.
A short timeline
| When | What |
|---|---|
| 6th to 5th millennia BC | Earliest known remains of sea-going boats, in Kuwait (Carter, Antiquity, 2006). |
| About 2600 BCE | A seagoing Egyptian ship is shown in a relief at the pyramid of King Sahure (Britannica). |
| 1660 | Amsterdam gives Charles II the yacht Mary, which Royal Museums Greenwich calls the first official royal yacht. |
| 1718 or 1720 | The oldest yacht club is disputed: Russia's Neva Yacht Club traces itself to 1718, but the Royal Cork Yacht Club (1720) has the more widely accepted claim (Wikipedia). |
| 1844 | The New York Yacht Club is founded on 30 July. |
| 1851 | The schooner America wins the race around the Isle of Wight that gives the America's Cup its name. |
| 1895 to 1898 | Joshua Slocum becomes the first person to sail alone around the world. |
| 1900 | Sailing's Olympic debut, at Paris. |
| 1906 or 1907 | The International Yacht Racing Union, today's World Sailing, is formed; World Sailing's own history gives both London 1906 and Paris 1907. |
| 1969 | Robin Knox-Johnston finishes the first solo, non-stop circumnavigation on 22 April. |
| 1976 | Hōkūleʻa sails from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti without instruments. |
| 1983 | Australia II becomes the first challenger to win the America's Cup. |
| 2013 | Foiling reaches the America's Cup, with the AC72 catamarans. |
| 2024-25 | Charlie Dalin sets the Vendée Globe record of 64 d 19 h 22 min 49 s. |
| 2026 | Sodebo Ultim 3 sets a new Jules Verne Trophy time in January; pending ratification as of October 2026. |
How we handle the sources
Every page in this section lists its sources. Wikipedia is used only as a secondary source and is named whenever we rely on it. When sources disagree, as they do on the 1851 trophy's name and winning margin, the number of New York Yacht Club defences, the death toll of the 1979 Fastnet and the first recorded English yacht race, we give each version and who says it. Claims we could not confirm are either labelled or left out. For today's racing, see the racing section, including the America's Cup as it stands now.
Sources
- R. Carter, Antiquity (2006), boat remains and maritime trade in the Persian Gulf
- Britannica, history of ships
- Royal Museums Greenwich, the yacht Mary
- Royal Cork Yacht Club (Wikipedia)
- Neva Yacht Club (Wikipedia)
- New York Yacht Club, founding of the NYYC
- History.com, US wins first America's Cup
- Yacht.de, Joshua Slocum: the forgotten pioneer
- World Sailing, history
- World Sailing, Paris 1900: the first Olympic Games for sailing
- Robin Knox-Johnston, 50-year anniversary of Golden Globe victory
- Hawaii Tribune-Herald, 50 years after Hōkūleʻa's first voyage (2026)
- Australian Sailing Hall of Fame, the team of Australia II
- Yachting World, foiling: the history of the hydrofoiler
- Vendée Globe, key figures
- Latitude 38, Sodebo Jules Verne Trophy record (2026)