The Sea Witch in stormy seas off Cape Horn

A much more interesting race around the Horn took place over the summer of 1851; between the Typhoon, the Raven, and the Sea Witch.

The Typhoon, 1611 tons, was a large extreme clipper ship built for the California and China trade, launched on February 18, 1851, from the Portsmouth, N. H. shipyard of Fernald & Pettigrew. She slid down the ways fully rigged to the skysail yards and colors flying with a great crowd of admirers gathered for the special occasion. Her overall measurements were 225 x 41 x 23, and was said to be a very sharp clipper. Her figurehead was that of a life size leaping horse surrounded by clouds and lightning. A gilded eagle enhanced by intricate scrollwork graced her round stern.

On her maiden voyage, the Typhoon cleared for Liverpool on March 12th, and sailed across the Atlantic in 13 days, 22 hours, and reached a speed of 15 1/2 knots, and on her best day she made 346 miles.

On April 20th, she sailed from the Mersey to New York, arriving there on May 17th after a 27-day "uphill" passage. The Typhoon began taking on cargo for San Francisco and sailed on August 2, 1998, under the command of Captain Charles H. Salter, to chase after the venerable Sea Witch, still under the command of George Frazer, which sailed the day before on her sixth voyage.

The Extreme clipper ship Raven was built in Somerset, Massachusetts, by James M. Hood and launched fully rigged for Crocker & Sturgis of Boston, who almost immediately passed on ownership to Crocker & Warren of New York. A small ship by comparison to other clippers of the period, the Raven was but 711 tons, and 158 x 32 x 17. No figurehead graced her bow, but she was a beautiful little clipper and showed promise of being a swift sailing vessel. The Raven sailed from Boston August 5th under the command of Captain William H. Henry.

Clipper Ship Raven / Model By Steve Priske

* ECS - This passage of The Era of the Clipper Ships inspired the building of this magnificent model of the Clipper Ship Raven.

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All three clippers had competent commanders aboard and all carried Maury's Wind and Current Charts and Sailing Directions to assist in their navigation. They all plotted their way swiftly through the doldrums.

The Sea Witch led the way through the summer's baffling breezes to the equator. Behind her, the race was heating up as off the Cape de São Roque, as the Typhoon came up on the wake of the Raven on August 28th, as both ships piled on all possible sail, with the Typhoon slowly drawing ahead, and both crossed the equator together on August 31st. Both clippers gained on the Sea Witch as they roared on down the South Atlantic.

The Raven pulled on ahead of the Typhoon and steadily closed the distance with the Sea Witch, as she raced for Cape Horn. Where the Typhoon's greater size would give her the advantage.

All three clippers crossed the parallel of 50° S. at the same longitude of 64° W. according to their logs. The Raven caught up with the Sea Witch off Cape Horn and they were soon side by side, fighting it out tack for tack, at the bottom of the world against the westerlies, both carrying as much sail as they dared. For fourteen days and nights they clawed back and forth, with the advantage shifting from one to the other, as their long sharp bows sliced on through the wild surging seas, with the Typhoon steadily drawing up on them from behind.

The Sea Witch and the Raven crossed latitude 50° S. in the Pacific side by side, with the Typhoon less than twenty-four hours astern. All three clippers piled on every yard of canvas they could set, a vast array of studdingsails, skysails, water-sails, and ringtails, all reaching for the sky to catch every puff of wind and pull them to the north as fast as they could go.

On the run to the equator, the Sea Witch pulled away from her pursuers and flew on ahead, crossing the line in 22 days from 50° S. with a two-day lead over the Raven, and a four-day lead over the Typhoon.

Steady winds now came out of the north and it became a close-hauled contest all the way to California. It was on this stretch of ocean that the Typhoon's size gave her the advantage, and she flew on past the Raven and closed on the Sea Witch, and pulled on ahead.

It was an exciting race right up to the San Francisco Heads. Five hundred miles from the Golden Gate, luck deserted the Sea Witch, as she ran into a belt of calms with the light airs pulling her along the rest of the way to her destination in five days, a distance she would have normally covered in two.

The Typhoon arrived first, entering San Francisco Harbor on November 18th, followed by the Raven on the 19th, and the Sea Witch on the 20th.

The Raven had sailed after the others, so she emerged as the winner with a passage of 106 days from Boston Light. The Raven had lost her maintopmast three days out from San Francisco, which had slowed her down for two full days.

The Typhoon had a 108-day passage from Sandy Hook and the Sea Witch was credited with a 111-day passage from Sandy Hook.

( * There seems to be a little bit of confusion concerning the total number of days as the Clipper Ship Era, Greyhounds of the Sea and American Clipper Ships all list different numbers concerning this race. I have gone with the American Clipper Ships numbers for this account)

The little Raven was clearly the winner and was the only ship of her size and tonnage to ever outsail the Sea Witch. But the fact that the Sea Witch was over five years old at that time, and had already sailed around the world on five voyages before this last race, should also be taken into account. Probably no ship in the world could have beaten the Sea Witch in her prime.

The Raven's victory over the Typhoon, a ship over twice her size, was equally impressive.

A number of other fine clippers slid down the ways in 1851, the most famous being the Flying Fish, Hurricane, Northern Light, Comet, Staffordshire, Sword Fish, Wild Pigeon, Hornet, John Wade, Seaman's Bride, Trade Wind, and Shooting Star. All would sail on their maiden voyages around the Horn in the later part of 1851 and early in 1852.

Many other fine clippers were nearing completion on the stocks, soon to be launched, and sail in 1852, as the era of the clipper ships showed no sign of slowing down and the frenzied pace of shipbuilding activity continued.

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