The sport was brought to England by King Charles II in the mid-1600s after his exile to Holland. International yacht racing began in 1851 when a syndicate of members of the New York Yacht Club built a 101-foot schooner named America. The yacht was sailed to England where it won a trophy called the Hundred Guineas Cup in a race around the Isle of Wight. The trophy was renamed The America's Cup and remained in the hands of the United States until 1983, when an Australian yacht finally brought to an end the New York Yacht Club’s 132-year winning streak.

Outside of the America’s Cup, yacht racing developed around the world, most often as a Sunday recreation for fishing boats. The creation of the International Yacht Racing Union in 1907 was the first step in developing the worldwide sport of sailing. An ever increasing range of materials and designs has seen sailing develop rapidly over the last 100 years, with mass-produced one-design boats helping the sport spread into all corners of the globe, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, the state-of-the-art yachts have become more and more spectacular. The development and popularization of windsurfers, skiffs and multihulls have pushed back the boundaries for sailing’s thrill seekers, whilst the Olympic Games, the America’s Cup and increasingly the great ocean races and record breakers continue to provide the sport with new heroes.