In the nineteenth century, yachting was based on handicap racing in regattas around the coast during the summer. Yachts built to the International Rule and other 'Big Boats' built to no particular rule joined in. One of these was the royal yacht Britannia, built in 1893 for Edward VII and inherited by George V.

Without Britannia and the royal interest in yatching there would have been no'Big Class', and since the famous J-class evolved from the 'Big Class' there would have been no J-class.

Britannia's development from the gaff-rigged cutter to Bermudan rig and conversion to J-class rating is a paradigm of yacht evolution.

The New York Yacht Club (the governing body) racing fleet had always been classified by letter. The J-class of 76-rating had nothing to to with the length of a yacht but was the fixed answer to an equation made up from a yacht's waterline length, its displacement and its sail area. This encouraged sail plans of a high aspect ratio which maximized the sail area available to drive the greatest possible displacement through the water.

Only 10 J-class yachts were ever built, 6 in the USA and 4 in Britain (In America 2 others were altered to rate in the class and in Britain 4 were converted to the class, 1 being Britannia). They raced for only 8 years (1930 - 37) and were banished by a World Recession and World War II.