History of Sailing

Today we read about an very interesting topic of Sailing, which start in ancient time by primative peoples. But the question is that, How?

Actually, before man learned to sail, he had to discover the principle of flotation and probably he did this by accident. By noticing how fallen pieces of trees floated in rivers and lakes, primitive man experimented by holding onto logs and discovered that they could support his weight and remain a float. They developed this ‘floating vehicle’ by tying logs of wood together with vines, bundling reeds together, inflating skins of animals or carving out the pulp of a tree trunk and cutting it in half to make a dugout or canoe.

After knowing about this, second important issue was the need for some form of power to propel his new-found craft resulted in man developing a crude sail- a piece of skin or other natural material, usually square shaped which he attached to a rough upright pole, and hoisted above his craft. The pole was held in position amidships (in the middle of the boat) by plaited rawhide ropes. It is known that ancient Cretans built boats such as this as early as 3000BC. Although this allowed them to communicate and trade with other countries in the Mediterranean, the shape of the sail they used meant that they could only sail before the wind that is with the wind behind them.

It was not until the 9th century A.D. that the triangular lateen sail evolved, allowing the boat to sail against the wind that is, heading towards the wind at such an angle that the boat is still pushed along by it. This was a wonderful achievement as boats could then be made to travel much faster, because more control was possible over the direction in which sailors wanted to sail.

Norse sailors, commonly known as the Vikings, became the first true sea-going adventurers, when they set out in their long ships from the fiords of Scandinavia and Denmark and began their invasions of England about AD 800. It is known that they crossed the Atlantic Ocean in their open boats to North America about AD 1000-500 years before Christopher Columbus. Although in Ancient Times, from 4000BC, the Egyptians, the Minoans (or Cretans), the Phoenicians and later the Greeks, used boats extensively for trading and warfare, it was really rather primitive sailing. They were not, in fact, True Ocean voyagers as they used to hug the coast. Having only the square sail, and therefore limited by being able to sail only before the wind, their sailing power was supplemented with a vast number of rowers or oarsmen, usually slaves. They also thought that if they moved too far away from the land they might fall off the edge- as they believed the earth was flat. They were probably fearful too of the unknown power of the sea, perhaps half-believing their own horrific tales of sea monsters and supernatural beings, stories they created in order to keep knowledge of certain highly profitable trade routes secret from their competitors. It was the Phoenicians living in the Eastern Mediterranean in about 1500BC who greatly developed trade by sea with North Africa, Syria, Crete, Cyprus, Rhodes and other Greek Islands, as well as the Western Mediterranean. The Phoenicians were manufacturers and they exported metal ware, glassware and textiles. They traded for raw materials, mainly metals and especially tin, copper and silver. As money was not very widely used, most of the trading was done by direct exchange of goods for goods called bartering system of money.

The Clipper ship was a nineteenth century wooden sailing vessel built and rigged, or equipped, for speed. With the discovery of steam and its increasing use in shipping by the early 1800s, the position of the sailing ship as a means of transporting people and goods across the oceans, was threatened. So the clipper ship was designed as a final attempt to prove the supremacy of sail over steam. For a time, the performance of these ships was superior to the paddle steamer which was a wooden ship propelled both by steam engine and paddle wheels, worked through large openings in the bottom of the hull. But in the middle of the nineteenth century the invention of the screw, as a marine propeller to replace paddles, made such a difference to the speed of the steamship, that by the end of the century the valiant clippers could no longer compete. However, for about thirty years, from the 1840s to 1870s these clippers were responsible for a glorious period in the history of sail and the sea. They were beautiful, graceful ships with tall tapering masts, some reaching heights of 60m (200ft).

The clipper was designed in America, one of the earliest being the Sea Witch, of about 950 tonnes, launched at New York in 1884, and running from New York to San Francisco. In 1850 the first British clipper, the Challenger was built. The British ships made some marvellous records but generally, the American vessels did better. After the discovery of gold in California, in the USA, and also in Australia the clippers took on new importance. There was no railway across the United States, so would-be prospectors in the east had to trek for six months from east to west across the country, or sail around Cape Horn, at the bottom of South America, on a clipper ship, which only took three months. For the impatient gold miners the route by sea was their obvious choice. For the same reasons of speed the clipper run to Australia became popular over other sea routes. The wool trade too, between England and Australia began developing at this time and gave yet another boost to the Clipper ship.

The well known Cutty Sark was another clipper on the China run, but a far as records were concerned she did much better on the Australian run, which she covered for eight successive voyages. Because clippers were such sleek, beautiful craft and also because they fought, so valiantly, a losing battle against the coming of steam, they, the men who sailed them, and the adventures they experienced have come to be considered in a romantic way.