I was in Baltimore a few years back, and was passing by the Pride of Baltimore (III?) while she was fitting out. She was beamy and stable, but not at all like the previous vessels. Of course, she probably will not capsize and sink, either.
Nobody would be crazy enough to put that much sail on a vessel so narrow anymore. There are better ways to get someplace fast. She was just too unsafe for modern standards. But it is the massive sail area over the narrow hull that made the ship so beautiful and conveyed the purpose of all-out crazy speed.
If a modern vessel were built to replace the Cutty Sark, it would just break your heart to see it.
No doubt. It's the timber preparation (seasoning) even before milling and the processes by which they were bent, shaped, and planked that are no more in a size that big, particularly for the reverse curves. I just love locust treenails, deadeyes and lanyards, Matthew Walker knots, and the smell of pitch. What can I say?
If the Cutty Sark is gone, perhaps now they'll restore the Vicar of Bray. Hopefully they got to the Cutty in time.