1870 Tea Clipper
Wooden U.S. Sailing Ship Model

Construction: Teak Wood – Cotton Sails and Rigging

Original Cutty Sark History:

The Cutty Sark was built by: Scott, Linton & Co., Dumbarton, Scotland; 1869

Cutty Sark was one of the last clippers built for the China tea trade. Captain John Willis of London, had her hull constructed with teak planking on iron frames.

Cutty Sark sailed a 16,000-mile journey in one hundred and nineteen days although she had lost her rudder in severe gales twice. Her crew built makeshift rudders and managed to bring her to safe harbor.

By 1878, most clippers had been replaced by steamships. But between 1883 and 1888 the Cutty Sark sailed from England to Australia with wool cargo through the Cape of Good Hope. In 1888 it did the trip in a record time of sixty-nine days. Speed was just as critical a factor for the wool trade as it had been with the tea trade.

In 1899 the Cutty Sark was sold to the Cia de Navegacao de Portugal and was renamed Maria di Amparo.

In 1922, Captain Wilfred Dowman purchased the ship and re-named her by her original famous name. The Cutty then became a full-rigged training ship at Falmouth.