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<!DOCTYPE html><html data-wf-domain="www.jclassyachts.com" data-wf-page="648224787a057e361564fefd" data-wf-site="642edc7ff8ce1469841e617b" data-wf-collection="648224787a057e361564fef5" data-wf-item-slug="1851-1928"><head><meta charset="utf-8"/><title>1851 - 1928 | History | J Class Association</title><meta content="Discover the history behind the J Class during the period 1851 - 1928" name="description"/><meta content="1851 - 1928 | History | J Class Association" property="og:title"/><meta content="Discover the history behind the J Class during the period 1851 - 1928" property="og:description"/><meta content="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/642edc7ff8ce1492db1e6183/648224db48fdc4084e089314_MAXI22ff_00001946%201.jpg" property="og:image"/><meta content="1851 - 1928 | History | J Class Association" property="twitter:title"/><meta content="Discover the history behind the J Class during the period 1851 - 1928" property="twitter:description"/><meta content="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/642edc7ff8ce1492db1e6183/648224db48fdc4084e089314_MAXI22ff_00001946%201.jpg" property="twitter:image"/><meta property="og:type" content="website"/><meta content="summary_large_image" name="twitter:card"/><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" name="viewport"/><link href="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/642edc7ff8ce1469841e617b/css/j-class-association.webflow.a5581b44f.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/><link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com" rel="preconnect"/><link href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" rel="preconnect" crossorigin="anonymous"/><script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/webfont/1.6.26/webfont.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">WebFont.load({ google: { families: ["Gilda Display:regular:latin,latin-ext","Poppins:200,300,regular,500,600,700:latin,latin-ext"] }});</script><script type="text/javascript">!function(o,c){var n=c.documentElement,t=" w-mod-";n.className+=t+"js",("ontouchstart"in o||o.DocumentTouch&&c instanceof DocumentTouch)&&(n.className+=t+"touch")}(window,document);</script><link href="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/642edc7ff8ce1469841e617b/647e6554d05e6fe8ed83ec2a_favicon-32x32.png" rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon"/><link href="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/642edc7ff8ce1469841e617b/647e6577014fbb0fff6d55a1_mstile-150x150.png" rel="apple-touch-icon"/><script async="" src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-EGJY5Y0T2T"></script><script type="text/javascript">window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}gtag('js', new Date());gtag('set', 'developer_id.dZGVlNj', true);gtag('config', 'G-EGJY5Y0T2T');</script> </head><body class="body"><div id="webpage" class="page-wrapper"><div class="global-styles w-embed"></div><main class="main"><div class="header-1 is-dark header-history-groups"><div class="j-class-nav-section"><div data-animation="default" data-collapse="medium" data-duration="400" data-easing="ease" data-easing2="ease" role="banner" class="j-class-navbar w-nav"><div class="container w-container"><div class="div-block-j-class-nav-outer"><a href="/" class="w-nav-brand"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/642edc7ff8ce1469841e617b/6438ec3a4e7f1596a6609f78_J-Class-Association-Logo-with-bg.svg" loading="lazy" alt="" class="image-j-class-nav-logo"/></a><div class="div-block-j-class-menu-and-event-button w-clearfix"><nav role="navigation" class="nav-menu-j-class w-nav-menu"><a href="/class" class="nav-link-j-class w-nav-link">About</a><a href="/yachts" class="nav-link-j-class w-nav-link">Yachts</a><a href="/history/1851-1928" aria-current="page" class="nav-link-j-class w-nav-link w--current">History</a><a href="/news" class="nav-link-j-class w-nav-link">News</a><a href="/events" class="nav-link-j-class w-nav-link">Events</a><a href="/galleries" class="nav-link-j-class w-nav-link">Gallery</a><a href="/partners" class="nav-link-j-class w-nav-link">Partners</a></nav><div class="w-dyn-list"><div class="j-class-button-event-hide w-dyn-empty"></div></div><div class="menu-button w-nav-button"><div class="w-icon-nav-menu"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="header-1-padding"><div class="container container-history-groups-hero"><h1 class="heading is-header-1-title-2 heading-history-groups">History</h1><p class="heading-intro-text-j-class heading-intro-history-groups">The J Class has its roots in the oldest international yacht race in the world, The America’s Cup. This International Event was born from a race around the Isle of Wight, hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron and called the R.Y.S. £100 Cup (a.k.a. One Hundred Sovereigns Cup).</p><div><div class="history-groups-buttons-collection-list-wrapper w-dyn-list"><div role="list" class="history-groups-collection-list w-dyn-items"><div role="listitem" class="w-dyn-item"><a href="/history/1851-1928" aria-current="page" class="history-groups-button w-button w--current">1851 - 1928</a></div><div role="listitem" class="w-dyn-item"><a href="/history/1929-1937" class="history-groups-button w-button">1929 - 1937</a></div><div role="listitem" class="w-dyn-item"><a href="/history/1938-1968" class="history-groups-button w-button">1938 - 1968</a></div><div role="listitem" class="w-dyn-item"><a href="/history/1974-1998" class="history-groups-button w-button">1974 - 1998</a></div><div role="listitem" class="w-dyn-item"><a href="/history/class-1" class="history-groups-button w-button">2000 to Date</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><section class="section overflow-visible history-groups-section"><div class="container is-content-grid-2"><div class="w-layout-grid content-grid-2"><div id="w-node-_3930df74-8385-5d88-f9e0-bf64c70537c8-1564fefd" class="grid-2-block-3"><div data-w-id="3930df74-8385-5d88-f9e0-bf64c70537c9" class="grid-2-image"><div class="w-condition-invisible"><p class="history-groups-img-credit">Image Credit: </p><p class="history-groups-img-credit w-dyn-bind-empty"></p></div><div class="image-animation-trigger-vertical"><div class="parallax-animation"><div class="animation-color-bg is-brown-light"></div><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/642edc7ff8ce1492db1e6183/648224db48fdc4084e089314_MAXI22ff_00001946%201.jpg" alt="" sizes="(max-width: 479px) 100vw, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 991px) 90vw, (max-width: 1919px) 84vw, 1244px" srcset="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/642edc7ff8ce1492db1e6183/648224db48fdc4084e089314_MAXI22ff_00001946%201-p-500.jpg 500w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/642edc7ff8ce1492db1e6183/648224db48fdc4084e089314_MAXI22ff_00001946%201.jpg 702w" class="cover-image is-parallax cover-image-history-group"/></div></div></div></div><div id="w-node-_3930df74-8385-5d88-f9e0-bf64c70537d0-1564fefd" class="grid-2-block-4 grid-block-history-groups-text"><div class="w-dyn-list"><div role="list" class="w-dyn-items"><div role="listitem" class="w-dyn-item"><a href="/history-years/1851" class="history-groups-block w-inline-block"><div class="history-groups-year-border"><p class="history-groups-year-text">1851</p></div><h3 class="history-group-sub-title">R.Y.S. £100 Cup Race </h3><div class="history-groups-intro">The Royal Yacht Squadron, which hosted the regatta open to all nations the prize being a £100 Cup race round the Isle of Wight, allowed an overseas yacht to enter for the first time in 1851. The yacht ‘America’ was built that year to an innovative new design and had sailed to the Solent in search of racing. Initially excluded from racing against British yachts, she was finally allowed to enter the regatta for the £100 Cup. </div><div class="history-groups-dashed-line"></div></a></div><div role="listitem" class="w-dyn-item"><a href="/history-years/1928" class="history-groups-block w-inline-block"><div class="history-groups-year-border"><p class="history-groups-year-text">Up to 1928</p></div><h3 class="history-group-sub-title">PRE J CLASS</h3><div class="history-groups-intro">Before the Universal Rule, yachts competing for the America’s Cup from 1893-1903 were designed to the Seawanhaka Rule which encouraged massive overhangs and sail area. The 1903 America’s Cup match witnessed the most extreme yachts built to this rule: Reliance and Shamrock III. </div><div class="history-groups-dashed-line"></div></a></div></div></div><div class="history-groups-buttons-div w-clearfix"><div class="history-buttons-previous-container"><a data-w-id="7013d9ee-e2ae-ec27-2d94-cd21ac7e8e1c" href="#" class="history-button-link-block w-inline-block w-condition-invisible"><div class="elipse-button"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/642edc7ff8ce1469841e617b/642edc7ff8ce1409961e61ba_arrow-icon-white-6.svg" loading="lazy" alt="" class="elipse-button-icon"/><div class="elipse-circle"></div></div><p class="history-button-text-previous-2 w-dyn-bind-empty"></p></a></div><div class="history-buttons-next-container"><a data-w-id="7013d9ee-e2ae-ec27-2d94-cd21ac7e8e23" href="/history/1929-1937" class="history-button-link-block history-button-link-block-next w-inline-block"><p class="history-button-text-next">1929 - 1937</p><div 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