ship 01 · Extreme clipper
Flying Cloud1851 · Donald McKay
Sailed New York to San Francisco in 89 days, 8 hours.
Launched April 15, 1851 at the Donald McKay shipyard in East Boston.
open her dossierA collection of handbuilt ships · 1790 – 1854
Maritime
Ships
Eleven ships, built by hand at a single workbench. Clippers from the Donald McKay yards in Boston, carried now on the dawn tide.
↓ scroll to meet the fleet
an introduction
My father spent years at a workbench in a quiet room, under one lamp, building ships he would never sail. He built them for the love of building them.
He passed two years ago. The ships remain in their cases. My mother has taken care of every one. She is ready to pass them on to people who will look at them the way he did.
the collection
Four ships, for now
ship 02 · Extreme clipper
Champion of the Seas1854 · Donald McKay
Made the fastest day's run ever recorded under sail.
Built by Donald McKay in East Boston and launched April 1854.
open her dossiership 03 · Four-masted extreme clipper
Great Republic1853 · Donald McKay
The largest wooden sailing ship ever built.
Launched October 4, 1853 in East Boston, at 335 feet in length and 4,555 gross tons.
open her dossiership 04 · Early American merchant vessel
Joe Lane1790 · unknown
An earlier American trader, paired in case with Flying Cloud.
Named for Joseph Lane, an early American figure.
open her dossierthe yards at east boston
Most of these came from
one builder.
Between 1851 and 1854 the East Boston shipyards of Donald McKay launched the fastest wooden sailing ships the world had ever seen. Flying Cloud. Champion of the Seas. Great Republic. In three years McKay set records that stood for a century and a half.
My father returned to these ships again and again. He built Flying Cloud in six different cases, in different renderings, at different scales. He built the ships McKay built, out of the kind of reverence that comes from a lifetime of watching the sea from the land.
to acquire
These ships are for sale.
Each is one of a kind. Shipping is careful and insured, case included. Every inquiry is read by a human, usually my mother, sometimes me.