Preface: The recently launched International Space Station
Alpha
orbits the earth at an altitude of 249.5. For Captain Cook, a distance
of 1000 miles from land was common. So too for the sailors of The
Race.
Parts 1 to 3 have directly compared the exploring of Captain
Cook to the entrants in the race. These groups and events being
hundreds of years apart, we have obviously left a gap.
In part 3 I wrote of the curve of how to ride the wind. In
this article we will take a break from Cook and The Race and take a
look at intermediate points on the curve of how ride the wind.
Slightly less than 100 years after Cook's voyages the premier
sailing vessels were clipper ships. Although what exactly was or
wasn't a clipper ship is hard to pin down, Carl Cutler in Greyhounds
of the Seas, gives this definition, "First she was 'sharp built'-
designed as to hull for speed rather than cargo space- and in the
second place, she was extremely heavily sparred, in order to spread
a far larger area of canvas than ships of equal size were accustomed
to spread."
Clippers still carried cargoes. The key was that they carried
them at much higher speeds than previous merchant ships.
They are the largest ships we so far have discussed.
The clipper Competitor launched in 1853. She measured 175 feet, 33.5 feet
in beam and drew 20.2 feet. Displacement was 871 tons. Built in 1855
the Andrew Jackson was 222 feet long, with a 40 foot beam and drew 22
feet. The largest of the clippers was Great Republic, which measured
302 feet with 48 feet of beam and a draft of 29 feet.
The hulls of these clippers were indeed sharp. They were
typically almost vertical below the waterline aft. Their transoms
angled aft in an overhang. At the bow we find the origin of the term
clipper bow. The clipper bow curves gracefully forward. It is sharp
and narrow.
An 1832 reference defined the bows as: "The round part of the
ship forward." The narrow ends of the Clipper ships rewrote the
definition of bow and produced speed which made up for lesser cargo
carrying capacity.
Adeck the clippers carried three masts: mizzen, fore and main.
The clipper Flying Cloud's 3 masts measured as follows: mizzen 102 feet,
main 127 feet, fore 113 feet. Each mast could carry up to 5 sails.
Up to 3 headsails could be carried in front of the fore mast.
This combination of sharp speed giving hull and towering masts
that could be filled with canvas produced tremendous speed.
For instance 4 clippers are known to have exceeded 20 knots.
Sovereign of the Seas achieved 22 knots while sailing from London to
Sydney in 1854.
Most remarkably the ships displaced from 1690 tons up to 2515
tons. Despite these loads they were able to achieve speeds still
comparable to modern craft.
The greatest 24-hour run recorded by a clipper was 465 miles.
This by Clipper Champion of the Seas in 1854. This record is still
superior to the 24-hour record for single-handed and crewed mono hulls.
In around 100 years monohull sailing ships had gained speed in
the clipper type. In many ways these clippers have still not been
surpassed by modern day mono hulls.
As there was progress from Endeavor to the Clippers, the maxi
marans of the Race also have predecessors who filled intermediate
points on the wind riding curve.
French mariner Alain Colas sailed a trimaran around the world
with one stop in Sydney. Manureva was 69 feet and carried both a main
and a mizzenmast. Construction was of aluminum. The boat was
formerly Eric Tabarly's Pen Duick IV. Colas named in Manureva which
means bird of passage.
Colas set out from St. Malo France in September of 1973. In
October of 1973 he put together a then record of 326 miles in 24 hours
for a single-handed sailor.
Colas used the clipper ships as a reference mark for his
voyage. The day of his 24-hour record he compared his time to that
of the clipper ship Cutty Sark.
By October 24th he reached the Cape of Good Hope. During
Colas' voyage he used celestial navigation. As he passed South Africa
he radioed to his shore crew and made sure they had a 1974 Nautical
Almanac which included the astronomical tables he would need.
He ended the first part of his voyage in Sydney, Australia
on 27 November. He sailed 14,640 miles in 79 days. This equals
185 miles per day an average speed of 7.7 knots. In Colas' words,
"... above all, equal to the time of Cutty Sark a century earlier."
By February he was at his last 'great cape', Cape Horn. From
Sydney to Cape Horn he was outpaced by the Cutty Sark 23 to 38 days
for his trimaran.
By March 28th he was back in France. From Sydney to France
Colas has sailed 15,427 miles. Averaging 171.4 miles per day at a
speed of 7.14 knots.
Total for the voyage 30067 miles in 169 days. This averages
177 miles per day, 7.41 knots.
Colas' inspiration was the Cutty Sark a British clipper ship
built in 1869. The Cutty Sark was 212 feet long has a 36 foot beam
and a 21-foot draft. Among her records were 73 days sailing from
London to Sydney in 1874, and 72 days from Sydney to the English
channel in 1887.
Colas sailed well, nearly as well as the Clipper Ships.
The Clipper were in many ways an aberration with sailing speed
slipping after their era.
The clipper ships moved monohulls on the wind-riding curve
from heavy and slow to heavy and fast.
The trimaran that Colas sailed took multi hull speed and
matched it to that of the Clippers.
In the next part of Racers/Explorers we will combine all
these points on the historic wind riding curve and see how fast they
all have traveled.