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The exploits of the great Victorian-era sailing vessels Cutty Sark, Thermopylae, Taeping, and Ariel have transported the imaginations of seafarers and would-be adventurers for over 150 years. These amazing clipper ships collected tea in China and raced each other all the…
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Running Her Easting Down is an overview of the life and times of the great tea clippers of the 19th century. It was written by William F. Baker (not to be confused with the engineer who designed the Burj Khalifa), an…
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The Log of the Cutty Sark examines the career of one of the greatest sailing ships to ever ply the water. Written by Basil Lubbock, this book takes a blow by blow account of the ship’s construction, service, near wrecks,…
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Basil Lubbock is possibly the world’s most prolific author on 19th century merchant ships, penning dozens of books and articles on the height of commercial sailing in the West, including, among other things, the Famous Tea Clipper Races. Yet, for someone…
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I first heard the story of the Cutty Sark and the Famous Tea Clipper Races shortly after I began working for a North American tea importing company. I learned that in the mid 1800s British merchants were so keen to…
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Arguably some of the most dramatic nautical events of the 19th century were the famous “tea clipper races” that pitted merchant companies against one another in a bid to see who could bring tea from China to London the fastest….
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