The British clipper Cutty Sark winning the Tea Race

Built in 1869 by Scott & Linton of Dumbarton, the Cutty Sark made her first voyage to China in 1870. After a labourious start she proved to be one of the fastest ships ever built. One of Cutty Sark's outstanding voyages was to China in the winter of 1870/71, when it took her only ninety eight days to sail from London to Shanghai. During the 1880's it was again the Cutty Sark who made the fastest voyages, beating her rival Thermopylae. In 1895, still as fast as ever, she was sold to a firm in Lisbon, and her name was changed to Ferreifa.

See illustration