Riggers get Cutty Sark shipshape for 150th anniversary celebrations
RIGGERS HAVE been carrying out maintenance work on the 152ft masts of Cutty Sark as they prepare for the famous ship’s 150th anniversary.
The ship is the last remaining tea clipper and made its name as one of the fastest of its day, and is now docked in the maritimesteeped Greenwich part of London, where it is an awardwinning visitor attraction.
Work is taking place ahead of a weekend of celebrations for its milestone anniversary on November 23 and 24.
The start of a year-long programme of events began at Cutty Sark earlier this year, starting by marking the anniversary of the signing of the contact to commence the build on February 1 to its launch on November 22.
The ship’s first official voyage was on February 16, 1870, when it
carried “large amounts of wine, spirits and beer” and came back from Shanghai loaded with 1.3 million pounds of tea.
It has a rich history, full of stories and “near-misses” from the beginning of its build
in Dumbarton to its time in Greenwich today.
It survived storms which ripped its rudder off on two occasions, a dismasting in the First World War and a fire in 2007.
In the year before the fire, the majority of Cutty Sark’s original fabric had been removed.
This meant that, while described as devastating, the blaze was nowhere near as destructive as it could have been.
Over 90 per cent of the ship’s hull structure seen today is originally from 1869.
To help the ship reach speeds of 17 knots, it had over 11 miles of rigging, an original sail area of 32,000 square feet across 32 sails, and a 152ft main mast.
As part of a restoration project ahead of her reopening in 2012, a team from T S Rigging undertook the huge task of stripping down and re-rigging Cutty Sark.
During next month’s celebration events, visitors can enjoy a number of concerts, theatre and poetry performances relating to the ship’s impressive career.