Beautiful Sailing Ships

[ivanov.ruslan]

One of the ships of highly respected sir Henry Morgan, Satisfaction

[Jimbuna]

Stavros S Niarchos

[Mr Quatro]

Will this help? Any one have a Clipper ship picture (40" gunwale)

[Aktungbby]

Cutty Sark practically the sole survivor: a Tea Clipper Had some famous races against Thermopylae, an 'extreme composite clipper: During the time from 1859 British clipper ships continued to be built. Earlier British clipper ships had become known as extreme clippers, and were considered to be "as sharp as the American" built ships. From 1859 a new design was developed for British clipper ships that was nothing like the American clippers. These ships built from 1859 continued to be called extreme clippers. The new design had a sleek graceful appearance, less sheer, less freeboard, lower bulwarks, and smaller breadth. They were built for the China tea trade and began with Falcon in 1859, and finished with the last ships built in 1870. It is estimated that 25 to 30 of these ships were built, and no more than 4–5 per year. The earlier ships were made from wood, though some were made from iron, just as some British clippers had been made from iron prior to 1859. In 1863 the first tea clippers of composite construction were brought out, combining the best of both worlds. Composite clippers had the strength of iron spars with wooden hulls, and copper sheathing could be added to prevent the fouling that occurred on iron hulls...Cutty Sark!

[Catfish]

Thanks for the Cutty Sark picture!

...and copper sheathing could be added to prevent the fouling that occurred on iron hulls...

As for the hull, the Cutty Sark hull was still made of wood. Have visited her in Greenwich, though long before the fire, and built three models of it. It has been rebuilt since then.

The name is interesting, "Cutty Sark" is a witch from a scottish tale i think (the nickname of the witch Nannie Dee), and it also (or: of course) is the "gallion figure" (figurehead?) of the ship.
I think a "cutty sark" is also a short (cut-off?) shirt from ye olde english language, and the witch is expected to have worn such a garment, thus her name.

The man who rode through an english forest, at night, saw some light and sound, in a nearby derelict chapel. So he wanted to find out what was going on.. unfortunately it was a witches' meeting, and they soon detected him. He quickly mounted his horse and went off as fast as it would gallop, but they were close after him.
Then there was a stream before him (as everyone knows ghosts and witches cannot pass running water) and he spurred his horse to make a giant leap .. and so got off by a hair, or better by some hairs of his brave horse's tail, the leading witch (Mrs Cutty Sark) managed to grab, before both crossed the water.
So he survived and lived to tell the tale..

And, before the next journey, the sailors of the "Cutty Sark" always put some horses' hairs in the hand of the wooden Mrs Sark, just to make sure..





All the best,
Catfish

[mapuc]

If I had a little more skill, well a lot more skill it is, I would love to build this beauty

http://www.artesanialatina.net/EN/mo...s-victory.html

Markus

[bertieck476]

I like to see the cutty sark when I visit greenwich, she is impressive and forms part of the dramatic backdrop from the observatory viewpoint.
Some friends I sail with have worked as riggers on the cutty sark one of whoms company rerigged her after the recent fire damage.
The thought of going aloft in a stormy seaway...no thanks.

[Aktungbby]

Well I'm not the only ship nut out there! I made the 3' Cutty Sark model when I was a lad of 14,with all the sails, deadeyes with standing and running rigging followed by the USS Constitution and HMS Victory...now if I could just get the Revell type VII Uboat done...One of my nephews found the model packed in a moving box in my parent's basement and is quite fond of it in his own home. God knows where these things end up! This one is of the opium clipper Lightning under very full sail, something of a hazard as clipper skippers tended to go dangerously fast. @ Bertieck: CLIMBING THE RIGGING IS A MINOR PROBLEM; IT'S THE INSANE CAPTAINS: " A clipper designer would also devote much attention to smoothing his ship’s “run,” her bottom at the after end. This practice lessened friction and added speed—but it also had its dangers. Too clean a run could result in an excessively fine form above the waterline and a consequent lack of buoyancy which often led to a ship being pooped—that is, swamped by a following wave. Ariel was one of a number of ships that suffered from this tendency, and when she vanished without trace while on passage in 1872 it was generally assumed that a following sea had struck from behind and washed her helmsman overboard. With no hand on the wheel, the clipper would have swung broadside to the following wave and been struck with such ferocity she would have sunk almost instantly.
Nautical men also acknowledged that the finest clipper would be nothing without a captain prepared to drive her hard for every moment of a voyage. The best masters pretty much lived on deck for the three-and-a-half month passage, and the ceaseless efforts made by Dick Robinson of the Fiery Cross were said to be worth an extra half-knot in speed to any ship he captained. Even conservatively built ships were generally loaded so they were trimmed down at the stern, as it was considered that the extra weight helped their sailing qualities. Once all the tea had been stowed away, the crew would still have to work hard to redistribute their cargo so as to ensure the optimum speed; some captains took matters further still. Ariel was noted for keeping on deck an enormous box, twelve feet long, packed with the heaviest metal obtainable. Once at sea, Captain Keay would watch as his men labored to drag the box to and fro until he was satisfied that its position would add still another edge to his performance." To sailors, three things made a ship a clipper. She must be sharp-lined, built for speed. She must be tall-sparred and carry the utmost spread of canvas. And she must use that sail, day and night, fair weather and foul.