''Race Horse'' was an 1850

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. The term was also retrospectively applied to the Baltimore clipper, which originated in the late 18th century. Clippers were generally narrow for their len ...

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

. She set a record of 109 days from New York to San Francisco during the first Clipper Race around the Horn.

Construction

''Race Horse'' was similar to a barque built by Samuel Hall a few years earlier, ''Coquette''. The design of ''Race Horse'' has been credited to both

Samuel Hartt Pook Samuel Hartt Pook (January 17, 1827 – March 30, 1901) was a Boston-based American naval architect and son of Samuel Moore Pook (1804-1878), the noted clipper ship naval architect. Clipper ships Pook designed several very fast clippers ...

and to Hall. According to a letter written by Hall to the "Boston Daily Atlas", he asked Pook to make the models and molds for ''Race Horse'' based on'' Coquette'', with a few modifications, in order to help Pook to "get his name before the public".

First Clipper Race Around the Horn, 1850

''Race Horse'' performed well in the First Clipper Race Around the Horn, which took place in 1850. ''Race Horse'' sailed from Boston to San Francisco in 109 days (or 94 days, 14 hours land to land). She made Cape Horn just 52 days out on this trip, 20 miles offshore.

"The keen rivalry between clippers led to races over thousands of miles of seas; and upon the result thousands of dollars were often wagered."

The new clippers ''Race Horse'', ''Celestial'', and ''Mandarin'' challenged '' Hoqua'', ''

Sea Witch A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order sections ...

'', ''Samuel Russell'', and ''

Memnon In Greek mythology, Memnon (; Ancient Greek: Μέμνων, ) was a king of Aethiopia and son of Tithonus and Eos. During the Trojan War, he brought an army to Troy's defense and killed Antilochus, Nestor (mythology), Nestor's son, during a fi ...

'', which were old rivals in the China trade.

"Large sums of money were wagered on the result, the four older vessels having established high reputations for speed. The ''Samuel Russell'' was commanded by Charles Low, previously of the ''Hoqua'', while the ''Hoqua'' was now commanded by Captain McKenzie; Captain Gordon was again in the ''Memnon'', and Captain George Fraser, who had sailed with Captain Waterman as chief mate."

''Samuel Russell'' knocked eleven days off the record, arriving first in San Francisco after 109 days from New York. ''Race Horse'' would also make a 109-day passage, but it was ''Hoqua'' that arrived next, having made a 120-day trip from New York. The following day ''Sea Witch'' arrived after a 97-day passage, knocking an additional 12 days off the record. The performance of ''Sea Witch'' was particularly astonishing because she had rounded Cape Horn during the Antarctic midwinter. "The remaining ships arrived in the following order: ''Memnon'', 123 days, ''Celestial'', 104 days, ''Race Horse'', 109 days from Boston, and ''Mandarin'', 126 days from New York-- all 'exceptionally fine passages,' average passages of the time being 159 days."

Voyage to Turkey

On August 8, 1851, ''Race Horse'' sailed from Boston to

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

, Turkey under the command of Captain Searles, with several passengers who were en route with their wives to work as missionaries in

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

: Sanford Richardson, Edwin Goodell, and Benjamin Parsons.

References

{{1865 shipwrecks Shipwrecks of the Georgia (U.S. state) coast Barques California clippers Individual sailing vessels Ships built in Boston Missing ships Maritime incidents in 1865 1850 ships Ships lost with all hands