The Premium and the Min River…in 1865 and would carry the hopes of her owner again. Serica, under Captain George Innes, had the reputation of a fast and reliable vessel. Fiery Cross, owned by Thomas Harrison, had won the premium twice before. Taitsing, the newest of the five, carried the ambitions of her owner, John Cam…
The Logbook’s First Page…rivals yet, but he knew where they were. Taeping and Serica had dropped their pilots within twenty minutes of each other that same morning. Fiery Cross had sailed the previous day, May 29. Taitsing would follow at midnight on May 31. The logbook lay open on the cabin table below. The first…
Tea, Salt, and Men…different for each ship. Ariel was an extreme clipper, built for speed. Taeping was similar. Serica was slightly smaller but equally fast. Fiery Cross was an older ship, but she had won the premium twice before. Taitsing was new and untested. The ships were matched, but they were not ident…
The Premium and the Min River…erged as the most serious contenders. Ariel, owned by Shaw, Lowther & Maxton, had finished second in the previous year’s race. Her captain, John Keay, was known for pushing his ship hard. Taeping, owned by Alexander Rodger, had won in 1865 and would carry the hopes of her owner again. Ser…
The Logbook’s First PageJohn Keay stood on Ariel’s quarterdeck and watched the Foochow pilot’s boat pull away toward the Pagoda Anchorage. The morning of May 30, 1866, offer…
Tea, Salt, and Men…. The best men meant better work aloft, better handling in storms, and better chances of winning. The captain’s reputation was his capital. John Keay of Ariel had a reputation. So did Donald MacKinnon of Taeping and George Innes of Serica. They were known as men who could drive a ship har…
Tea, Salt, and Men…er handling in storms, and better chances of winning. The captain’s reputation was his capital. John Keay of Ariel had a reputation. So did Donald MacKinnon of Taeping and George Innes of Serica. They were known as men who could drive a ship hard without breaking her or her crew. The sailors who…
The Wharfside Loading…, 236 lbs respectively. Taitsing, with 1, 093, 130 lbs, was a day behind. The same task was underway on the other vessels in the anchorage. Donald MacKinnon’s Taeping loaded with careful attention to balance, her captain knowing that the race ahead would demand both speed and stability. Serica,…
Into the Teeth of the Monsoon…g—reassuring because it confirmed that Ariel had not fallen behind, maddening because it meant Taeping had matched her pace almost exactly. Donald MacKinnon, Taeping’s master, had chosen a similar offshore route. The two captains were now locked in a duel that would last the entire passage. The…
The Premium and the Min River…he first tea became available for loading. The new crop appeared at Foochow earlier than at any other port. The Min River estuary, with its pagoda anchorage and its access to the interior tea-growing regions, became the staging ground for the annual contest. Ships that loaded at Shanghai or Cant…
The Logbook’s First PageJohn Keay stood on Ariel’s quarterdeck and watched the Foochow pilot’s boat pull away toward the Pagoda Anchorage. The morning of May 30, 1866, offered a light northeast breeze, barely enough to fill the royals. Behind him, the anchorage still held the…
Tea, Salt, and Men…into the hatch. It settled with a thud that echoed through the timbers. The loading had taken five days. Sixteen clippers had waited in the Pagoda Anchorage at Foochow that May, their captains watching each other’s spars for signs of readiness. The new crop of tea became available here earlier t…
The Premium and the Min River…oon was a gauntlet of storms and headwinds. The Sunda Strait, between Sumatra and Java, offered a narrow passage into the Indian Ocean. The Cape of Good Hope, at the southern tip of Africa, was a notorious obstacle even in fair weather. The North Atlantic, with its variable winds and its approach…
The Logbook’s First Page…would have to navigate the Anambas and Natuna islands, thread the Sunda Strait between Sumatra and Java, cross the Indian Ocean, round the Cape of Good Hope, and beat north through the Atlantic. The lead that Fiery Cross established in the first week would be challenged, lost, and regained. The…
Tea, Salt, and Men…away. In the meantime, the ships sailed. They sailed through the China Sea, through the Sunda Strait, through the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope, and up the Atlantic. They sailed through calms and storms. They sailed through days of boredom and nights of danger. They sailed with a mi…
The Premium and the Min River…the season, and so it was where ships trying to be the first back to London had to load. Five ships emerged as the most serious contenders. Ariel, owned by Shaw, Lowther & Maxton, had finished second in the previous year’s race. Her captain, John Keay, was known for pushing his ship h…
The Logbook’s First PageJohn Keay stood on Ariel’s quarterdeck and watched the Foochow pilot’s boat pull away toward the Pagoda Anchorage. The morning of May 30, 1866, offered a light nort…
Tea, Salt, and Men…Each one bore the chop of the broker who had bought it at auction. The mate calculated the weight in his head. A full cargo for a ship like Ariel ran to just over a million pounds, packed tight enough to shift the center of gravity six inches lower than she would ride in ballast. He r…
The Premium and the Min River…ed by Shaw, Lowther & Maxton, had finished second in the previous year’s race. Her captain, John Keay, was known for pushing his ship hard. Taeping, owned by Alexander Rodger, had won in 1865 and would carry the hopes of her owner again. Serica, under Captain George Innes, had the reput…
The Logbook’s First Page…s, their captains impatient for the tea chests to come down from the hills. Keay could not see his rivals yet, but he knew where they were. Taeping and Serica had dropped their pilots within twenty minutes of each other that same morning. Fiery Cross had sailed the previous day, May 29.…
Tea, Salt, and Men…s, and better chances of winning. The captain’s reputation was his capital. John Keay of Ariel had a reputation. So did Donald MacKinnon of Taeping and George Innes of Serica. They were known as men who could drive a ship hard without breaking her or her crew. The sailors who signed wit…
The Premium and the Min River…eay, was known for pushing his ship hard. Taeping, owned by Alexander Rodger, had won in 1865 and would carry the hopes of her owner again. Serica, under Captain George Innes, had the reputation of a fast and reliable vessel. Fiery Cross, owned by Thomas Harrison, had won the premium t…
The Logbook’s First Page…tains impatient for the tea chests to come down from the hills. Keay could not see his rivals yet, but he knew where they were. Taeping and Serica had dropped their pilots within twenty minutes of each other that same morning. Fiery Cross had sailed the previous day, May 29. Taitsing w…
Tea, Salt, and Men…ning. The captain’s reputation was his capital. John Keay of Ariel had a reputation. So did Donald MacKinnon of Taeping and George Innes of Serica. They were known as men who could drive a ship hard without breaking her or her crew. The sailors who signed with them knew what to expect.…
The Premium and the Min River…in George Innes, had the reputation of a fast and reliable vessel. Fiery Cross, owned by Thomas Harrison, had won the premium twice before. Taitsing, the newest of the five, carried the ambitions of her owner, John Campbell, who had invested heavily in her construction. The premium of te…
The Logbook’s First Page…and Serica had dropped their pilots within twenty minutes of each other that same morning. Fiery Cross had sailed the previous day, May 29. Taitsing would follow at midnight on May 31. The logbook lay open on the cabin table below. The first entry would record the departure, the wind, th…
Tea, Salt, and Men…Taeping was similar. Serica was slightly smaller but equally fast. Fiery Cross was an older ship, but she had won the premium twice before. Taitsing was new and untested. The ships were matched, but they were not identical. The differences in design, condition, and crew could make a diff…
The Premium and the Min River…this before. Each spring, the same clause appeared in the bills of lading for the China tea ships. Each spring, the captains and agents in Foochow received their instructions. Each spring, the race began before a single ship had left the anchorage. The premium was a mechanism for time,…
The Logbook’s First PageJohn Keay stood on Ariel’s quarterdeck and watched the Foochow pilot’s boat pull away toward the Pagoda Anchorage. The morning of May 30, 1866, offered a light northeast breeze, barely enough to fill th…
Tea, Salt, and Men…ettled with a thud that echoed through the timbers. The loading had taken five days. Sixteen clippers had waited in the Pagoda Anchorage at Foochow that May, their captains watching each other’s spars for signs of readiness. The new crop of tea became available here earlier than at any…
The Logbook’s First Page…stract of the logs, published later in the newspapers, would reduce these first days to a series of numbers. Ariel: 21 days from Foochow to Anjer. Taeping: 21 days. Serica: 23 days. Fiery Cross: 21 days. Taitsing: 26 days. The numbers suggest a close race, with most ships reaching the…
Into the Teeth of the Monsoon…ving a strong southwest breeze, and the Fiery Cross passed three miles to windward. She kept her lead through the Straits of Sunda, passing Anjer Point at noon on June 19th. By the time the fleet reached the coast of Borneo, the monsoon was at full strength. On June 9 and 10, Ariel an…
The Strait as a Funnel…f the 1866 tea race all headed for the Sunda Strait, sailing past the Paracels, down the coast of Annam and then south to Borneo, bound for Anjer, on the southern side of the Sunda Strait. There was no other practical gateway to the Indian Ocean. Ariel’s sighting of Taeping on June 2,…
The Premium and the Min River…emium was payable to the first ship to dock, not the first ship to arrive in the Channel. A vessel might reach the Downs, the anchorage off Deal, and still lose the premium if she could not enter the docks before her competitors. The tide mattered. The wind mattered. The pilot’s sche…
The First Lookout’s Cry…tea merchants were committed to a payment when their tea would sell at a loss. To add to this, the first two tea clippers had signalled off Deal early on the morning of 6 September, followed by a third (Serica) at 1: 00 pm. These three ships would create a glut of new season t…
The Shipwright’s Response…tances that the 1866 race had seen. No vessel arrived with the damage that had marked that contest. Ariel and Spindrift made the passage to Deal in ninety-seven days. Sir Launcelot followed closely. The times were fast—faster than many pre-1866 passages. But they lacked the dramatic…