I only recently (last five years or so) became aware of the term 'Yacht Rock' and had no recollection of it being used to describe that kind of music at the time such stuff was popular. Turns out that
(as I suspected) the term Didn't exist at the time and wasn't invented until the 1970s-80s heyday of 'YR' were some three decades in the rear view. It came about via a comedy podcast (weren't
none of those during the Carter administration) which invented the term and hung it on that genre as a kind of winking tribute.
This all courtesy of a recent HBO documentary about Yacht Rock featuring Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross*, plus all them Toto guys along with more recent musicians who very
much admire many of the records put out by the crews of all those yachts (come on down QuestLove).
Not bad.
* Christopher Charles Geppert as it turns out. Good to find out that his name wasn't just as a result of his parents owning a cruel sense of humor