ISAF (UK) LTD

In Britain, there were several attempts to develop a uniform set of rules but the first meeting to develop such rules was the 'Yachting Congress' organised by the Royal Victoria Yacht Club on 1 June 1868. This congress was attended by 23 representatives from 14 clubs. Under the guidance of Captain Mackinnon, a sub-committee of the congress compiled a pamphlet of the existing rules on all the yacht clubs.

The Congress met again on 4 March 1869 when a draft of the racing rules were examined and adopted. However, when published in the yachting press it met with severe criticism and was abandoned.

The need for a coherent set of rules continued to grow. A number of associations were formed and their rules subsequently rejected. In 1881, when HRH Albert Edward, Prince of Wales was Commodore of the Royal Thames Yacht Club and the Royal Yacht Squadron, these two clubs joined the Yacht Racing Association along with the New Thames Yacht Club and developed a set of rules for British waters.

Again confusion arose over the different measurement standards that were being used in Europe, North America and Britain. Consequently, yachts from different countries could not compete on equal terms. Major Brooke Heckstall-Smith, secretary of the Yacht Racing Association, wrote to the Yacht Club de France expressing the need to devise an international rule of measurement for racing yachts that was acceptable to all European countries. As a result, an International Conference on Yacht Measurement was held in London in January and June 1906 and the 'Metre Rule' was developed and is still used today in the 12 Metre, 8 Metre, 6 Metre and other Metre boats. The attendees formed the International Yacht Racing Union and adopted a common code of yacht racing rules based on that of the YRA.

At that time the IYRU comprised of the yachting authorities of Austria-Hungary, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland and Belgium, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.