Trivia!

At the height of the Age of Sail, a great race was held between nine ships. The race took them halfway around the world, and more than 100 days to complete. Despite the great distance and travel time, the 1st and 2nd place ships literally raced neck-and-neck to the finish line, arriving within half an hour of each other, and the 3rd place ship arrived on the same day.

identify the race, and name the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place ships.

 

Good question!!

 

UGH!!!
I know the first and second place off the top of my head, but I can't recall third!!!!!
There is a famous painting of that race.
And if my memory serves me correctly, it even shows third place as sails on the horizon.

 

I'm familiar with the race as well, but can't for the life of me remember which ships/race.

I cheated and looked it up. I won't answer though in case someone else can remember the third ship!

 

Sounds like you guys are on the right track. For bonus points, explain why I *should* have waited until this Sunday to ask the question.

 

Glad that I had researched this. My first guess would have been Thermopylae and the Cutty Sark with the Flying Cloud as the close third.

The Great Tea Race of 1866 was an unofficial competition between the fastest clipper ships of the China tea trade to bring the season's first crop of tea to London in 1866
In 1866, nine ships laden with the first tea of the season left Fuzhou between 29 May and 6 June, but only four of the nine were really competing for the prize: the Fiery Cross, the Ariel, the Taeping, and the Serica. Three sailed on 30 May, the Fiery Cross started on 29 May, but though she had a day's lead on her rivals, she still lost the race. The race took over 3 months, crossing the South China Sea, through the Sunda Strait of Indonesia, across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope of Africa, and up the Atlantic Ocean to the English Channel. This was the fastest route for one ship to take, as the Suez Canal was still under construction. The three leaders in the race docked in London within a short time of each other.
Near Dungeness, harbor pilots boarded the Taeping and the Ariel at the same moment, and at the Downs steam tugs were waiting to tow them to the River Thames. It was at this point that the fight was really decided.
Both vessels were taken in tow at the same time and they were neck-and-neck going up the Thames. The Taeping, however, reached Gravesend first, with the Ariel at close by and the Serica was still a close third. Taeping entered the dock at a quarter before 10:00 on Thursday. The Taeping won with a mere 20 minutes lead over Ariel, with Serica third, just one and a half hours behind the leader who won the prize.
The Daily Mail recorded that "Taeping has thus secured the prize, which is an extra freight of 10 shillings a ton on her cargo of tea." The Taeping was carrying 767 tons and 1,108,709 pounds of tea.

 

I was thinking Sea Witch and Flying Cloud from New York to San Francisco. Then I thought Thermoplyae and Cutty Sark as you did, and not finding race in the ships histories, did a generic search for tea clipper races and found what you did.

 

Right on, Knight! the Great Tea Race of 1866 is one of the most incredible feats of sailing navigation known to man. Three different clippers, each with unique sailing qualities, sailed over halfway around the world, taking different routes to benefit the most from their individual handling characteristics, and they all arrived on the same day. Two, in fact, arrived almost simultaneously. Absolutely astounding. These ships were truly on top of their game.

While researching this before asking my question, I did find two sources that suggested Ariel had won, instead. Upon further investigation, I found that one site was the official website for Ariel Shipping (with plenty of reason to say Ariel won) and the other was a school-project website whose owner hadn't done his research. Neither website had sources from the time period, and once I found the original article from 1866, it was clear that Taeping had won.

 

Back in the 60's had built a model of the Pedro Nunes, better known as the Thermoplyae. It gave me a real love for TALL ships.

 

As long as we are on the topic of TALL ships.
What do hang gliders of the 1980's and TALL ships have in common? ( And please do not say a sail. )

 

a person on board

 

Nice try but no cookie.

 

They both have a keel, rigging and a king post.
J

 

Yes, but those are not the Nautical terms that I am looking for this time.
Keel, rigging, king post, hull, deck, rudder, are all common terms that are used in avaition.
I have been active with avaition for over 40 years, and this is a term that I have never heard connected to a flying machine before!

 

Am I boring everyone with this question?

If there are no more post by Wednesday, I shall post the answer and leave the forum open for someone else to post a question.

 

Maybe we're just too young to be familiar with 1980s hang gliders! I can remember the one in the opening credits to "The Fall Guy." Does that count?
:ermm:

 

how about Bowsprit

 

That is correct!!!!
Thank you.

Some hang gliders use a bowsprit, rather than a spar to spread their wings. The bowsprit is formed by extending the keel tube about a meter beyond the [leading edge] of the wing. Notable examples of this design are the gliders manufactured by Bautek in the 1980's[1]

It is all yours Joker.
On to the next question.

 

Het Joker, any question?