In 1660 the Dutch presented Charles II. with a yacht called the _Mary_, “from whence,” writes Sir Anthony Deane to Pepys, “came the improvement of our present yachts; for until that time we had not heard of such a name in England.” This _Mary_ was of a hundred tons and was the first yacht to appear on our Navy list. She was lost in 1675 near Holyhead. From this model Christopher Pett in 1661 built the _Anne_ at Woolwich, her tonnage, beam, and length of keel being the same as those of the _Mary_, but she drew three feet less water. In the same year Charles was presented with another but smaller yacht of only 35 tons, called the _Bezan_, which also came from the Dutch. From the arrival of the _Mary_ various sized yachts began to be built in England, of which the tonnage gradually increased. The _Katherine_, built in 1661, was captured by the Dutch in 1673. So far had this new departure progressed in our country that in 1674 a design was made for two yachts to be built at Portsmouth for the King of France in imitation of Charles II.’s. But the largest built about this time was the new _Mary_, to replace the first one lost. Of 166 tons, she was launched in 1677. The smallest yachts were the _Minion_ of 22 tons, and the _Jemmy_ of 25 tons, and the _Isle of Wight_ of a like tonnage. Incidentally we find in the Naval MSS. of the time that the dimensions of the biggest yacht’s mast of the year 1683 were: length 20 yards, “bigness” (_i.e._, thickness) 20 inches. It was during the reign of that apostle of hedonism, Charles II., that the yacht became not merely the vessel of state but of pleasure. He introduced into England yacht racing, although the Dutch had for a long time delighted in regattas and naval sham fights with yachts. In 1661 Charles sailed in a match from Greenwich to Gravesend and back. One impulse that had been given to the Dutch to build so-called yachts with finer lines and high capabilities of speed was the trade carried on to the East by their Dutch East India Company, and it was this company that had made Charles the present of the first yacht he ever possessed. During the eighteenth century yachting began to be a new sport for noblemen and wealthy gentlemen, especially in the neighbourhood of Cork. By the end of the century the Solent was becoming the cruising ground for a large number of English yachts, and in 1812 a yacht club was started at the Medina Hotel, East Cowes. In 1817 this newly-formed yacht club was joined by the Prince Regent, who used to cruise between the Wight and Brighton in the _Royal George_.[118] George III. had also patronised yachting, and the illustration in Plan 4 gives some idea of his yacht the _Royal Sovereign_. Launched at Deptford in 1804 she drew 9 feet forward and a foot more aft. She was copper-bottomed with a streak of yellow painted above, with another streak of blue above that, while her stern was ornamented with medallions of the cardinal virtues.