I’ve never agreed with the much stated remark that the clipper ship was the zenith of sailing ships. While they were sleek, the sail plans required large crews, they lacked cargo capacity & therefore limited to high value cargo. The iron & later steel hulled ships, especially after 1870 were far superior in capacity and many could match the clippers in speed. Innovations such as the Jarvis Brace Winch allowed smaller crews to handle bigger sail plans. Ship designs like Prëussen, Potosi, Herzogin Cecilie showed that sail was still an efficient means of transport. There was still plenty of room for innovation. Where all sailing vessels fell short compared with steam ships was in port operations. Small hatches reduced access & speed of cargo ops. The low freeboard when loaded was partly to blame for the small hatches, since decks could be awash in foul weather. All steel hatch covers as we have now could have helped. The need by most of the square riggers to use solid ballast, such as sand or stone instead of water, also greatly extended the time in port. They could have easily had ballast tanks but owners were typically cheap (still are) & chose not to build them into the design. This was rather short sighted.
I'm surprised this channel is not popular.
I’ve never agreed with the much stated remark that the clipper ship was the zenith of sailing ships. While they were sleek, the sail plans required large crews, they lacked cargo capacity & therefore limited to high value cargo. The iron & later steel hulled ships, especially after 1870 were far superior in capacity and many could match the clippers in speed. Innovations such as the Jarvis Brace Winch allowed smaller crews to handle bigger sail plans. Ship designs like Prëussen, Potosi, Herzogin Cecilie showed that sail was still an efficient means of transport. There was still plenty of room for innovation. Where all sailing vessels fell short compared with steam ships was in port operations. Small hatches reduced access & speed of cargo ops. The low freeboard when loaded was partly to blame for the small hatches, since decks could be awash in foul weather. All steel hatch covers as we have now could have helped. The need by most of the square riggers to use solid ballast, such as sand or stone instead of water, also greatly extended the time in port. They could have easily had ballast tanks but owners were typically cheap (still are) & chose not to build them into the design. This was rather short sighted.