Contenders Great Tea Race of 1866

taeping

the tea trade china large undertaking. macgregor lists 57 ships sailing in 1866-67 tea season, clear caveat not every ship listed - ones had researched. on season, these sailed several ports: foochow, hankow, shanghai, woosung, canton , hong kong. departure dates stretch end of may 1866 through february 1867. in may 1866, 16 of best clippers had assembled @ pagoda anchorage on min river, downriver foochow (fuzhou). quickest ships, judged agents based in china, loaded first. however, not fastest sailed first - depended on tonnage of vessel , standing , influence of local agent.

the front runners of 1866 tea race were:

ariel, launched in 1865. thought fastest of day, being designed excellent performance in light winds. downside in strong gale, sail had reduced rapidly or ship hove to, extreme lines left susceptible being pooped or, if going windward, damage caused waves sweeping deck. of composite construction (wooden planking on iron framework), built @ yard of robert steele & co in greenock on clyde. carried 100 tons of fixed iron ballast, moulded fit low in hull , further 20 tons of moveable iron ballast. gives indication of yacht nature of design.
fiery cross had been first tea clipper home in 1861, 1862, 1863 , 1865. older ship, built in 1860, predated widespread acceptance of composite construction, built of wood. nevertheless, full of latest technology; example steel masts , cunningham s patent roller reefing topsails , t gallants.
serica, launched in 1863, ship built robert steele & company, , penultimate wooden clipper yard before moved composite construction. first ship home china in 1864, , closely beaten (through lack of tug) fiery cross in 1865.
taitsing clyde-built ship, of composite construction. launched yard of charles connell & co. of glasgow in 1865, on first trip china.
taeping first composite ship built robert steele & co (the third yard out of 5 ships listed here), being launched in 1863. on maiden voyage dismasted in typhoon off formosa (taiwan), losing foremast , main , mizzen topmasts. after repairs in amoy (xiamen), made remarkably fast passage of 89 days london.




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^ cite error: named reference lubbock invoked never defined (see page).
^ shewan, andrew (1996) [reprint of 1927 edn.]. great days of sail, reminiscences of tea-clipper captain. london: conway maritime press limited. isbn 0 85177 699 x.