The Great Tea Race Ariel and Taeping

Of all the magnificent tea clippers of the 1860's, Ariel proved one of the fastest and certainly one of the best known after her performance in the Tea Race of 1866. Built at Greenock by Robert Steele in 1865, Ariel had been ordered for Shaw, Lowther & Maxton of London for their prestigious China fleet and no expense was spared in her construction. Registered at 852 tons net, she measured 197-1/2 feet in length with a 33-1/4 foot beam, and proved capable of a remarkable 16 knots when coaxed by the right captain in optimum conditions. In fact she made her name for speed from the start when, leaving Foochow loaded with the new season's tea on May 28th, 1866, she began her epic run home in company with Taeping and three other famous clippers. Dashing across the world's oceans, passing and re-passing each other continuously, Ariel and Taeping raced neck and neck up the English Channel and finally docked in London within half-an-hour of each other on the evening of September 6th after the most spectacular race in the history of the tea trade. Equally good passages followed almost every year until she retired from the tea route in 1871 after which she switched to the Australia run. On January 31st 1872, she cleared London for Sydney but was never heard of again, circumstances unknown; a tragic end for such a legendary flyer.
The widely acclaimed Taeping was Robert Steele's first composite tea clipper and one of the most famous of her breed. Built to the order of Alexander Rodger of Glasgow in 1863, she was registered at 767 tons and measured 183-1/2 feet in length with a 31 foot beam. Excelling in light winds, she made a very good maiden trip home with her first tea in 1864 despite being disabled in a typhoon. Her equally good run home in 104 days in 1865 was eclipsed the very next year by legendary 99 day race against Ariel. On September 22nd, 1871 she was wrecked on Ladd's Reef in the South China Sea.