Page:The history of yachting.djvu/83

Rh kind is here introduced, the occasion being the visit to Amsterdam, about the year 1717, of Czarina Catherine, wife of Peter the Great.

It seems quite absurd to think of these ancient yachts as having been built for speed, yet such is the fact. And while no record can be traced of

their having sailed in matches, they no doubt had contests of speed quite as exciting,—chasing smugglers and pirates, carrying dispatches, and being under the guns of an enemy.