Origins of the International Rule and the Metre Classes.

To appreciate the historical relevance of the Metre Classes,

one mus really look to the origins of yacht racing.

The Metre Classes are the oldest racing classes in the world,

still active.

They have survived a century of nautical evolution, politics

and economic recessions,

varying doses xenophobia and two world wars.

They have been chosen as Olympic and Americas Cup classes.

Quite a record.

The formula that enabled these classes to survive is kmown

as the International Rule.

The many attempts to enable differing yachts to race

competitively have always challenged yacht designers.

The first formulae where pretty basic; they relied on

boat length and sailarea. As design developed, other

measurements were introduced and now an array of

measurements (and indeed variations of these measurement

definitions) is used.

The origins of competitive sailing are pretty much a mixed bag.

While sail has been with us for centuries, sailing as a competitive    

sport is a relatively recent activity. 18th Century owners of           

fishing smacks, ferry operators, local pilot and revenue

(customs) cutters wanted faster craft and racing was

a natural extension.

Through this often extra-curricular activity, fishermen,

pilots, and revenue-officers (and their adversaries!)

pushed for speed and manoeuvrability.

As often the case, a sport emerged from commerce.

These developments occured on both sides of

the Atlantic; albeit in different ways. To understand

the interplay of America and Europe one has to

look at the caracters and motives of their welth

generators, the social circumstances of the times

and the passion for yacht racing caught the imaginationn

of an extra-ordinarily large

portion of the poupation.

The impetus in European sailing was largely driven by English

and Scottish commercial interests. Royalty and their associates

also played with sailing, albeit largely as spectator pastime.

The industrial revolution had created great wealth giving

a great part of the population more leisure time and more

money, to watch or to be involved in sailing.

The resultant wealth accumulation in the northern USA

from the American Civil War enabled industrialists to develop

their sailing pursuits.

Founding yacht clubs emerged in the 1830s,

one of the first being The Royal Yacht Squadron.

Originally founded in 1815 as The Yacht Club,

the qualification entitling a gentleman to become a

member was the ownership of a vessel not under 10 tons.

Today this is interpreted as a gentleman actively

interested in yachting. In 1820, when the

Prince Regent became George IV, Royal was added

to the name.

In 1826, the Club took organizing racing as a principal

feature of the annual regatta.

While the Cork Harbour Water Club was founded in 1720,

their activities were originally limited to sailing in various formations, following complicated signals and in general

copying naval engagements of the day – actual racing

was taken up later.

By the end of the nineteenth century yacht design

had become a crucial factor and the now famous

names such as Herreshoff, Dixon, Kemp, Ratsey,

Burgess, Fife and Nicholson appeared.

Several came with academic backgrounds,

introducing engineering fundamentals; others

produced revolutionary design concepts.

The period from the 1880´s to around1910

produced quite extraordinary yachting thinking

and many superb yachts.

The new wealthy industrialists were fascinated by

it all and with their financial input, the new specialist

builders were eager to take up build challenges.

We may be astonished by the costs of today’s

Americas Cup challenges; these are small

compared to the comparable spending of

Morgan, Vanderbuilt and Lipton. Include a few kings,

princes and magnates and you had a very heady mixture!

By the late 19th Century Great Britain,

France and the United States had individually

developed formulae that constrained either hull

dimensions, sail area or both. Eventually it was

recognized that any international rule would have

to take in account a combination of these factors

and in Januari 1906 the YRA (the forerunner of the ISAF) hosted a meeting in the Langham Hotel in London

where the concept of a new genareal rating rule was proposed.

The evolving nature of design and materials

had to be taken into account and for such a ruke to be effective, it had to be accepted universally.

While United States were reluctant to move from their Herreshoff or Universal Rule and France wanted amendments, all agreed to meet again later that

year in October in Berlin. At this second meeting

the finer points of The International Rule were

finalized and this committee (known as

the International Yacht Racing Union) met again in

October 1907 where the Rule was approved.

This remarkable document is the foundation of

yacht racing. It covers Measuring & Rating,

Scantling Regulations and Sailing Rules.

It acknowledges change is inevitable and provides

for these. It is in many senses liberal, yet ensures

the spirit of competitive sailing is retained.

While the International Rule covered some eleven

Classes, the 6, 8 and 12 Metre Classes have survived

and are actively racing today.

All three classes were used as Olympic Classes

during the first half of the 20th Century.

To date ther have been two Rule changes and the

Third Rule is relevant today. Each change reflected the progressive design thinking, developments in

materials and engineering progression.

It is a remarkable document.

Of the Classes, the 6 Metre has been the most

poular in build numbers.

This is mainly due to the cost, ease of transport

and crewing need. Being the smallest class they are

the cheapest to build and maintain.

Several were built to test new designs for the 12 Metres.

There are well over 1000 6 Metres in existence,

many from the likes of Olin Stephens, Pelle Petersson,

Ian Howlett, Fife, McGruer and Camper & Nicholson.

It is a tribute to the International Rule origins

that the 6 Metre Class yachts still race together.

Classic (those built before 1965) and Modern yachts

race together and many fast Classics give the

moderns a hard time!

The come about and the success of the 2,4mR Class

in the 20th and the 21st Century again proves how wisely

the International Rule is put together.

All that had to be done to make it useful for this

small size of yacht was an increase in draft to

make up for the loss of RM/volume when

downsizing this much.

Today there are about 400 2,4mR yachts

registered in the International 2,4mR Class

but many more has been built and are sailing

outside of the class.