A superior extreme tea clipper of the Sampson & Tappan Fleet, WINGED RACER launched into a career of fast voyages, acclaim, and ultimately a terrible final fate. Birthed out of the East Boston Yard of Robert Jackson in the winter of 1852, from the design of Samuel Pook, she has the largest clipper of the Samson & Tappan Line, following their three clippers of renown built by Donald McKay: STAG HOUND, FLYING FISH and WESTWARD HO. The George Upton-led company, partnering with John and Robert Forbes and others, led the sailing trades to California, India and the Far East.
WINGED RACER was by all accounts, including this inspired work of art by Montgaue Dawson, a beautiful ship with the sharp lines and a clipper bow that was inspired by the speedy pilot schooners. Her maiden voyage was a Cape Horn run to California in a fast 108 days, and she would sail the route again in 1853 and 1861. Like most 1850s clippers, she continued on through to Hawaii and on to Manilla and China before completing the round the world voyages back to her Boston home port.
Dawson has created a remarkable work of art, with a driven, crashing sea bucking and challenging the skill of the fast clipper ship's crew. After her 1861 run to California, she hit ice off Annapolis, delaying her sailing to the Far East nine months. She sailed out in Dec. 1862, and after preparing a return voyage of sugar, coffee and cigars to New York under the command of Captain George Cumming, she was captured and burned by the Confederate Raider ALABAMA on Nov. 10, 1863. Thanks to Dawson, her glory lives on.
