9 - The Enthusiastic Adoption of Yachting by the Mercantile and Professional Classes after 1870 Part Two: A Philosophy of Yachting for the New Men

Summary

We know of no amusement that can offer such splendidly healthful adventure and at the same time so cheap, as cruising … All that is required is a boat that may range from £20 to £600 according to the purse of the adventurer. …

The more one cruises the more friends one will have, and the more friends one has the better ought to be one's chances in life – provided they are of the right sort.

The Corinthian Yachting Narrative

If the leaders in industry and manufacturing and their supporting professions were to be attracted to yachting, it had to be congruent with their core beliefs and values. Since Corinthian sailing is so central to the yachting narrative till well beyond the Second World War, I will first describe it and then examine it from a number of angles, such as its leading exponents, educative texts, and the implementation of class boundaries.

The origins of the application of the term ‘Corinthian’ to sport are somewhat vague but in A Manual of Yacht and Boat Sailing by Dixon Kemp, published in 1878, the author defined ‘Corinthian’ as:

a term in yacht parlance synonymous with amateur. The name was adopted in consequence of the similarity between the fashionable young men of Corinth who emulated the feats of athletes and their modern prototypes. Some clubs in Corinthian matches do not allow any paid hands to be on board.

The Corinthian spirit is well described in Cowper's introduction to his pioneering five-volume pilot for yachtsmen, published in1892:

We write for that large and ever-increasing brotherhood of ‘corinthian sailors’ … A corinthian sailor, we take it, is one capable of managing a craft either single- handed (if she is small enough) or with the assistance of other amateurs, if she is from 5 to 30 tons.

This passage includes most of the key values of Corinthian yachting – the small boat, manned exclusively by amateurs; a hardy activity which refreshes the soul; the soul being gender specific, since only men would be strong enough to undertake it; and also makes links with a glorious seafaring tradition and brotherhood of god-fearing, yet fearless, men.