Boston in 1854). The speed-length ratio of 1.45 may 

 be taken as the highest claimed for a seagoing vessel 

 of sufficient displacement to carry cither a small 

 amount of cargo or to give livable accommodations 

 for a sea voyage of much length. 



The foregoing criterion of sailing speed gives rather 

 di.scouraging results as regards progress in sailing ship 

 design between 1812 and 1865; and apparently tar- 

 nishes the reputation of the clipper ship. Such a com- 

 parison, however, is somewhat unfair, for the privateer 

 was designed to sail under less difficult conditions of 

 sea and weather than the clipper ship and the yacht 

 was designed to sail under the easiest conditions of all. 



Marine historians have resorted to the "shortest 

 voyage over a given run" as the criterion of excellence, 

 as, for example, the Baltimore schooner Vaquero, noted 

 earlier (p. 25). The use of this criterion to establish 

 the fastest clipper-ship leaves an element to chance; 

 a very fast ship might be on a given run for years, yet, 

 because of weather conditions or because of the way 

 the ship was loaded or because of her commanders 

 and the quality of her crew, none of which are matters 

 of ship design, she might only once make a record or 

 near-record run. Another factor that must be taken 

 into consideration in the lowering of records for given 

 runs is the increase that took place in knowledge of 

 the wind and weather conditions to be expected in 

 any month of the year along the courses sailed between 

 New York and San Francisco, and in the trans-At- 

 lantic and trans-Pacific runs. The meteorological re- 

 search of Lt. Matthew Fontaine Maury in the 1840's 

 and 1850's at the American Hydrographic Office in 

 Washington established for these runs the sailing 

 courses which, if closely followed, shortened very 

 markedly the time between ports. It is not surprising, 

 therefore, to discover that some of the vessels listed 

 by maritime historians as clipper ships, on the basis of 

 their "record passages," were relatively full-ended 

 vessels having a low maximum speed potential. 



Speed under sail is affected by the direction of the 

 wind in relation to the chosen course of a vessel; a 

 ship sailing close-hauled, that is, pointing into the 

 wind to her maximum capability moves through the 

 water much more slowly than when the wind is free, 

 that is, on her beam or abaft that direction. Often a 

 fast ship will sail on all points at higher speed than 

 a slow ship, but when the margin of superiority 

 between ships in this respect is small, the best handled 

 ship will be the fastest. Some fast ships sail better on 

 one course than another. In one case two clipper 

 ships, both notable sailers, were in company and one 



ship outsailed the other with the wind aft; but when 

 they changed courses, so that the wind came forward 

 of the bea^n, the position of the ships was soon reversed. 

 When a ship is noted for being fast, then, the question 

 to be asked is: on what course is she fast — close 

 hauled or running free or reaching with the wind 

 abeam? 



Wind and sea conditions also affect a ship's per- 

 formance. The heavy, full-ended packets could be 

 sailed in heavy head winds and seas when the poten- 

 tially faster Baltimore clipper model brigantine or 

 large schooner or extreme clipper ship had to reduce 

 sail and speed to be safe. In heavy weather the larger 

 vessel always had a basic advantage, for she usually 

 could carry sail when the smaller vessel could not. In 

 an area where the weather was generally poor at a 

 given period, as in the North Atlantic in the late 

 fall and winter or off Cape Horn in winter, large 

 vessels as a rule had the advantage. 



Perhaps the simplest test of a ship's being fast is the 

 record of the types and names of vessels she has 

 passed when in company, for this very often shows the 

 inherent speed advantage she had under a specific 

 existing condition. Using the record-run criterion it 

 is necessary to call some full-ended but heavily rigged 

 carriers "clippers" but, if their passing of fast-sailing 

 types of ships or of known clippers is on record, it is 

 usually possible to decide whether or not the vessel 

 in question was truly "fast" in model, for the weather 

 stated, or was merely lucky in her weather. 



There are certain "probables" that decide a vessel's 

 qualities when her model is examined. Sharp-model 

 vessels of the Baltimore clipper type were usually 

 quite fast close-hauled and on all other points of 

 sailing if the wind were light or moderate and if the 

 sea were not heavy. Commonly the deeper the draft 

 (in relation to length and beam and therefore the 

 greater the dead rise) in a Baltimore clipper, the 

 faster she might be close-hauled, but she would 

 probably be slower off the wind than some vessel with 

 less draft and dead rise. This was also true at least 

 to some extent in the later clipper ships. A relatively 

 wide and flat-bottomed ship with fine ends would 

 commonly be very stiff under sail and thus be able to 

 carry a heavy press of canvas in strong winds. The 

 North Atlantic packets were of this last description, 

 as were some of the later clipper ships. 



It is extremel)' difficult to draw firm conclusions 

 about the relative speed of vessels of varying date and 

 model. It has been customary to compare indiscrim- 

 inately, using the criterions of fast passages and high- 



32 



