| | | Cutty Sark - Museum Quality Replica Ship | The Cutty Sark was
launched on November
22, 1869, in
Dumbarton on the
Scottish Clyde. She
was built to carry
tea in the China Run.
Due to a new hull
shape that was
stronger, could take
more sail and be
driven harder than
any other, the Cutty
Sark was the fastest
ship taking the Cape
of Good Hope Route.
Her name comes from
Robert Burns' poem,
Tam O' Shanter. Tam
meets a group of
witches, most of whom
are ugly, but for
Nannie, who is young
and beautiful and is
described as wearing
only a "cutty sark"
(a short chemise or
shirt).
Although her early
years under her first
master, Captain
George Moodie, saw
some sterling
performances, fate
was to thwart her
owner's hopes of
glory in the tea
trade: in the very
same year of her
launching, the Suez
Canal was opened,
allowing steamers to
reach the Far East
via the
Mediterranean, a
shorter and quicker
route not accessible
to sailing ships,
whose freights
eventually fell so
much that the tea
trade was no longer
profitable. So Cutty
Sark's involvement in
the China run was
short lived, her last
cargo of tea being
carried in 1877.
For the next several
years, the Cutty Sark
was forced to seek
cargoes where she
could get them, and
it was not until 1885
that she began the
second (and more
illustrious) stage of
her career. The
ship's heyday was in
the Australian wool
trade, which was
overseen by Captain
Richard Woodget, from
1885 to 1895.
44" long x 11" Wide x
27" High (1:78 scale)
Real authentically
aged COPPER PLATED
hull and painted like
the actual Cutty Sark
Requires hundreds of
hours to build from
scratch (not from a
model kit) by our
master artisans.
Plank on frame
construction (a
painstaking process
where each individual
plank is added to the
hull one at a time).
Built with rare, high
quality woods such as
southwest cherry,
white orchis wood,
birch, maple and
rosewood.
The model rests
perfectly on a large
slate base between
four arched dolphins.
Masterfully stitched
canvas sails.
No plastic fittings.
Significant deck
detail.
To build this ship,
extensive research
was done using
various sources such
as museums, drawings,
copies of original
plans and photos of
the actual ship.
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