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01/23/2005: "Review of Tidewater Triumph, The Development and Worldwide Success of the Chesapeake Bay Pilot Schooner"

Geoffrey M. Footner gives us a professional study of the fabled Baltimore clipper schooner and or brig, which he titles Tidewater Triumph, The Development and Worldwide Success of the Chesapeake Bay Pilot Schooner, Mystic Seaport Museum, 1998. He makes the case that these ships, which became synonymous with Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay were more likely called pilot boats for their speed than they were clippers. Another mystery cleared up in this well researched compendium of pilot boat schooners built during the early 19th century is the reason for the rake of the masts. Most of us might look at a fast ship and determine from our modern perspective of streamlining that the masts were raked for speed and airflow. Not so. The writer points out that the forward of the two masts was set towards the bow to allow room for a large hatch and when this was done, in order that the engineering of the thrust of the sail power be adequate to propel the hull and maintain steerage, the leverage of the sails, or center of effort, had to be raked. The writer also points out that many of these ships were built in other ports along the Chesapeake lines and further, that quite a number of them were used in legal shipping where speed was important. If you’re interested in learning more about this Chesapeake contribution to nautical engineering, read this book.