Clipper Ships and the Golden Age of Sail

Sam Jefferson is one of the foremost authorities on clipper ships in the world today. Previously Deputy Editor of Sailing Today, he now lives on a boat and writes for magazines such as Classic Boat, Sailing Today, and Traditional Boats and Tall Ships.

Introduction VII

1 The origins of clipper ships 1
Baltimore clippers 2
Britain lags behind 5
Gold rush 6
Time for tea 12
Beauty at any cost 16
End of an era 20

2 A hell ship voyage with ‘Bully’ Waterman 23
Fame and fortune 24
A challenge for the Challenge 29
Rotten crew 32
Crisis at Cape Horn 40
The reckoning in San Francisco 41
The aftermath 47

3 Marco Polo the fastest ship in the world 49
A stranding with a twist 50
Under new ownership 55
Up through the hawse-pipe 57
Troubles on the record passage 57
Commander of the Lightning 60
The Schomberg’s only voyage 66
Dangerous gamble 71
Decline and fall 73

4 Mary Patten’s battle with Cape Horn 81
T he Rapid’s turnaround 83
An unusual honeymoon 85
Captain and mate 89
Mary’s dilemma 91
Keeler’s second chance 92
The frustrating final leg 97
End of the fairytale 99

5 Mutiny aboard the ‘wild boat of the Atlantic’ 103
The Dreadnought’s recipe for success 105
Liverpool packet rats 109
The provocation 111
Crisis point 117
Rudderless in mid-ocean 121
Wrecked near Cape Horn 125

6 The great China tea race of 1866 127
Out to sea 129
The captains and their ships 132
The challenges of sailing China clippers 137
Manoeuvring for position 143
On the home stretch 150

7 The Sir Lancelot defies the odds 159
Dismasted in the Bay of Biscay 160
The race line-up 163
‘Go ahead’ Robinson 168
The Sir Lancelot catches up 168
A new rival 171
Against the Thermopylae 179
Robinson’s final record 181

8 The Cutty Sark’s longest voyage 185
Cruel mate 190
Search for a new skipper 193
Tramp of the ocean 199
Hazing and hardship 202
Drunk in command 203
Wool clipper 206