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.
This portion of Racers/Explorers will review the history of
sailing speed. From 1492 to 2000, we'll look at how fast vessels have
sailed.
The maxi cats preparing for The Race are expected to sail the
globe at unprecedented speeds. This article will give perspective on
how the speed of sailing vessels has progressed.
We'll begin with James Cook's voyages of exploration.
Perhaps the best way to understand the speed of Cook's ships is to
look at the time it took him to sail from England to Cape Town or
vice versa.
On these legs Cook was not exploring, but rather traveling
to or from his exploring area. Further, in Cook's time the route was
well known meaning he could expect to sail quickly on this leg.
On his second voyage in 1772 Cook sailed from England on
13 July. He reached Cape Town on 30 October. With victualing stops,
this is a time of 100 days. Figuring a distance of 7350 miles, this
means Cook's ship made an average speed of 3.06 knots.
Returning from Cape Town on the first voyage Cook and crew
sailed Endeavour from Cape Town to England in 87 days, an average
of 3.52 knots.
Their best day of sailing on this voyage came on
April 29, 1771. That day Endeavour sailed 136 miles in 24 hours.
Captain Cook recorded a following SE wind.
The slowest day was 58 miles. This came at 6° north latitude
in the doldrums. In his log Cook commented, "Variable unsettled
weather with some rain."
Considering Endeavour's best day saw an average of 5.7 knots,
an average of 3.5 is respectable.
As we saw in Part 4, about 100 years after Cook's ships came
the Clipper ships. The clippers sailed fast and set a number of
records.
The Clippers sailed the world, including the North Atlantic.
One of the Clipper's standard Atlantic crossings was Liverpool to
New York, a distance of 3107 miles.
The Andrew Jackson a 222 foot, 1679-ton clipper sailed this
route in 15 days an average of 8.63 knots. During this run in 1860
the Jackson sailed in company with the Invincible beating her by
2 days although Invincible was 16 feet longer.
In 1960 when the first Plymouth England to America trans
Atlantic race was held, Francis Chichester won at an average speed
of 2.89 knots. It was not until 1988 when Phillipe Poupon set a
then record with an average of 11.27 knots that the Andrew Jackson's
speed was bested.
The route from New York to Liverpool runs west to east with
the prevailing winds. The clipper record for this route was set by
Red Jacket in 1854. Red Jacket was a 251 foot 2305 ton ship. Red
Jacket's transatlantic record was set on her maiden voyage in January
of 1854. The Clipper's speed averaged 10.66 knots. Best day was
417 miles, and for a 6 day period the average days progress was
343 miles. The 417 miles is the 9th greatest days run by a Clipper
and was done "in a terrific gale and high sea and snow."
Not until 1980 was Red Jacket's speed beaten. Eric Tabarly
sailed across the Atlantic in Paul Ricard at an average of 11.94 knots
to finally best the clipper record.
Another Atlantic passage is named the Discovery Route as
Christopher Columbus sailed it on his 1492/Ocean Blue Voyage. It took
his fleet 195 days to make the route, an average speed of .83 knots.
This summer the Race Class catamaran Club Med sailed the
same route in 10 days 14 hours, an average of 15.49 knots.
During this same voyage Club Med set the current record for
miles sailed in 24 hours, 625.7.
Comparing these Discovery Route voyages we see that Club
Med is 1766% faster. This is equivalent to 3.4% increase per year,
or .029 knots per year.
The 24-hour record Club Med broke was set by another
maximaran, Playstation. In January 1999, Playstation sailed 580 miles
in 24 hours.
The best 24-hour run by a Clipper ship was 465 miles by
Champion of the Seas in 1854. During this voyage the clipper peaked
at 20 knots.
All of the above records are either 24-hour periods or ocean
crossings. Sailing speed is also measured on a global basis.
The 1990's have seen a series of catamarans set new standards
for around the world speed. It is these most recent standards that
the latest record breaking vessels- Race Class Catamarans will shoot
at.
In 1993-94 Explorer knocked the time down to 79 days. Then
came ENZA, which sailed the globe in 74 days. Most recently it was
a trimaran, Sport Elec, completing the voyage in 71 days. An average
of 12.66 knots.
From Explorer to Sport Elec there is about a 10% improvement.
The average of the greatest 24-hour runs by Explorer and Enza is
529 miles. Club Med's 625 miles is 16% greater.
In terms of an around the world voyage this works out to
59 days. This is an average of 15.20 knots. This average speed is
greater than all the records in this article except for Club Med's
Discovery Route voyage.
For Columbus or Cook to sail even for a minute at 15 knots
would be astounding. For Clipper sailors it was much more
commonplace. For the Race Class catamarans it is expected.