In early days the races were sailed above bridge, with an occasional bold venture as far down the river as Erith or Gravesend; but, finding by experience that no serious dangers existed in such then comparatively unknown waters, the above-bridge races were in a few years abandoned, and the time-honoured course from Erith round the Nore and back adopted. After many years, owing to the increase in the size of the yachts, and in both the number and size of the vessels navigating the Thames, another change was made. The Royal London always showed energy where yachting progress was concerned, and was the first to adopt flying starts on the Thames. A small class raced thus May 14, 1878, and it may be noted that the club was one of the first clubs in the United Kingdom, if not actually the first, to adopt the Y.R.A. rules, October 20, 1892. The office of Admiral was filled by the election of H.R.H. the Duke of York to that post. A striking illustration, not only of the progress of the club, but also of the development of yachting, is shown in the following table:-- +------+------------------+-------------------+-----------------+ | Year | Number of Yachts | Aggregate Tonnage | Average Tonnage | +------+------------------+-------------------+-----------------+ | 1848 | 15 | 161 | 11 | | 1892 | 248 | 17,000 | 69 | +------+------------------+-------------------+-----------------+ On the social side its advance has been equally striking. After wandering about for many years, in 1857 rooms were engaged at the Caledonian Hotel, Adelphi. In 1882 the prosperity of the club justified the opening of a branch club-house at Cowes, and three years later the London headquarters were moved to their present position in Savile Row. These changes were attended by the most satisfactory results. The numbers, instead of fluctuating between 200 and 300 as they had done for a series of years, at once began to increase, and now there are over 700 names on the books. The yachts have increased correspondingly. THE LONDON SAILING CLUB, HAMMERSMITH