[Rb ver. 2.0]

"this vessel was the apogee of sailing ship technology when it came out, much as planes like the Grumman Bearcat and P-51 Mustang were the apex of piston engine aircraft when they were produced."

Great analogy. This is an irreplaceable loss.

Prior to the 1870 completion of the transcontinental railroad, clippers were the only way to get goods from the West Coast to the East coast of the US in under 4 months. I think the record run was 90 days+ -.

One of my favorite maritime reads is Richard Henry Dana's Two Years Before the Mast(E-book!), a great narrative of being clipper crewman sailing around the Horn to California and back in the pre-gold rush days.

[rlmorel]

I nearly had tears in my eyes this morning.

My wife looked at me like I was kind of brain damaged.

This is irreplaceable history. Good Gosh...what a heartbreak.

I’ll bet the members of “The Cutty Sark Society” are drinking from the bottle today. (I just assume there is a society...could be wrong)

[MJemison]

One of my favorite maritime reads is Richard Henry Dana's Two Years Before the Mast(E-book!), a great narrative of being clipper crewman sailing around the Horn to California and back in the pre-gold rush days.

I read Eric Newby's "The Last Grain Race" 2 winters ago. Though that ship is not a clipper, I couldn't help but marvel at what men they were, to crew those tall ships! Imagine my surprise when on a school field trip to Philadelphia, our bus passed nearly (it seemed) under the spar of Moshulu on our way to Independence Hall. She is docked at the Penn Martime(?) Museum.