The Great Tea Race of 1866

The Great Tea Race of 1866 (English: The Great Tea Race of 1866) was an unofficial competition between the fastest clippers in the tea trade with China, which brought the first tea harvest of the 1866 season to London.

A serious competition was created is to be the first ship of the new crop, which returned to London; an additional interest in 1866 was thus aroused that high bets were placed on the winner in England.

The Teeclipper race had become at that time a tradition in the tea trade between Britain and China. The winning ship achieved a sterling addition for each ton Delivered tea and the captain was rewarded with a commission from the profit of the ship's cargo.

Preparations

The ships were able to leave the port in China only after they were fully loaded. The tea chests were brought by sampans and other small ship vehicles on the Min River to Fuzhou. The ships were loaded by Chinese stevedores around the clock, while the crew checked the cargo and the ship prepared to depart.

In 1866 left between 29 May and 6 June nine ships Fuzhou with the first tea of ​​the season, but only four of them were serious competitors for victory: the Fiery Cross, the Ariel, the Taeping and Serica. Three of them left China on 30 May, but the Fiery Cross was already started on May 29. She lost the race despite the one-day lead over the rivals.

Report on the race

A report in London's The Daily Telegraph on September 12, 1866 carried the headline "The Great Tea Race of 1866 " and reported on the course of the race between Taeping, Serica, Ariel and Fiery Cross:

" ... China leaving at the same time, they sailed all the time almost head to head and came within two minutes of each other in the port of London. A race that was still out of scarce or still was great in terms of some of its circumstances, was probably never seen before. The Taeping who won, came at the Lizard literally the same hour as the Ariel, her nearest rival and then dashed up the Channel, both ships chest to chest. Throughout the day, they drove gallantly Since by side, supported by a strong westerly wind, every rag set canvas and the sea stroked her decks, as they were before the wind. "

Surprising Finale

The race lasted for three months and went through the South China Sea through the Sunda Strait and the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope and the Atlantic Ocean up to the English Channel. This was the fastest route that could take a ship because the Suez Canal was not yet completed. The three leading ships reached the port of London in quick succession.

At Dungeness port pilots were at the same time aboard the Taeping and Ariel and the Downs waited steamer to tow the ships up the Thames. At this point, the race was really decided.

Both ships were taken at the same time in drag and went head to head up the River Thames. However, the Taeping reached Gravesend first, the Ariel was close behind, and the Serica not knocked over as the third. Taeping reached the port at 21:45 clock and won the race with just 20 minutes ahead of Ariel. Serica was third and was just one and arrived half an hour after the winner.

The three TEAclipper had needed to circumnavigation of three quarters of the globe just 102 days.

The Daily Mail reported that the Taeping secured the prize, which amounted to an additional cargo of ten shillings per ton of tea. On board were 767 Taeping tn.l. or 1,108,709 pounds of tea loaded.