Alexander Robertson and Sons Ltd - Yachting History - Emergence of The Clyde and Robertsons Yard

Emergence of The Clyde and Robertsons Yard

This section provides a brief history of yachting in the UK and attempts to put the emergence of the Clyde and the story of Robertson's Yard in context.

During the early part of the 17th century sailing for ‘private pleasure’ began in the Netherlands. However, it was only after King Charles II of England returned from exile in the Netherlands in 1660, and was presented with a yacht named Mary, did sailing begin on the Thames. Prior to this time the word ‘yacht’ was completely unknown in England. The first yacht race, which was patronised by the royal court, took place on the Thames in 1662. It is believed that due to Royal connections, private sailing started to become popular in Cork during the late 17th century. The first yacht club in the world, ‘The Water Club of the Harbour of Cork’, was established in 1720. This famous club was subsequently reformed and went on to become the Royal Cork Yacht Club in 1831 .

In the 18th century yachting in Britain was a very much an exclusive sport enjoyed only by the very rich, aristocrats and Royalty. From the middle to the end of the 18th century some races took place, but yachting developed very slowly.

During the 19th century yachting became a much less exclusive sport. Although there were only a few yachts over 35 tons at the start of the century, the British yacht fleet increased dramatically from around 50 in 1812, to 500 in 1850 and 2,200 by 1902.

The first yacht club in England was formed out of the Cumberland Society fleet in 1775 and went on to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The Yacht Club of Cowes was founded in 1815, which became the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1833. Regular weekly races were being organised at Cowes from 1826. Although yachting started on the Thames, the Solent became a much more popular venue by the middle of the 19th century. The first American yacht arrived in Cowes in 1851, which heralded the start of sailing as an international sport, and was a precursor to the America's Cup.

The first yacht club on the Clyde was the Northern Yacht Club, which appeared in 1824 and received its Royal Warrant in 1831. The club was founded to organise and encourage the sport, and by 1825 Scottish and Irish clubs were racing against each other on the Clyde. However, it was not until 1856 and the foundation of the Clyde Model Yacht Club (which later became the Royal Clyde Yacht Club) that regular weekly races took place. The Royal Yacht Club became a driving force of Clyde yachting, as three leading designers: William Fife III, George Lennox Watson and Alfred Mylne were among their members. The two senior clubs on the Clyde, the Royal Northern and the Royal Clyde, were amalgamated in 1978 to become the Royal Northern & Clyde Yacht Club.

The first recorded Clyde racing yacht, a 46-ton cutter, was built by Scotts of Greenock in 1803 . Scottish yacht designer William Fife started designing yachts as early as 1807, but his first large yacht Lamlash, a 50 ton yawl, was not completed until 1812. This was the first Scottish yacht to cruise in the Mediterranean.

The rapid growth of Glasgow as an industrial city at the beginning of the 19th century was a direct result of an early project to deepen the Clyde, which was completed in 1812. The Industrial Revolution and growing overseas trade brought great wealth to the region. Many wealthy industrialists bought houses along the coast, away from all the pollution of the big cities, and developed a great passion for yachting.

However, yacht building and yachting didn’t really take off on the Clyde until the middle of the 19th century. During the 1850s’ the new sailing clubs were very active and William Fife & Sons dramatically increased the rate of building yachts at Fairlie from 2 to 5 per year. During the 1860s’ the yard had become well established and building increased from 5 to 9 yachts every year. By the end of the century a series of yachts had been designed specifically for sailing on the Clyde: 17/19; 19/24; 30-foot (9.1 m) restricted.

The creation of the International Yacht Racing Union and the International Rule in 1907 provided a big boost to yacht building in the early part of the 20th century, and prior to World War I, the British yachting fleet had grown to around 3,900. The emergence of a group of talented Clyde yacht designers such as William Fife III, George Lennox Watson, Alfred Mylne, James McGruer and David Boyd in the first half of the 20th century firmly established the pre-eminent position of Clyde yachts on the high seas. The River Clyde became, like Cowes and Kiel, a centre for yachting.