The Colonial Clippers - Basil Lubbock

The two rivals, Brilliant and Pericles, were the only ships to make Sydney in under 80 days from the Channel, and owing to Pericles getting ashore close to Plymouth and having to come back and dock and discharge her cargo, etc., the two ships eventually left the Lizard together.

Ship	Departure			Crossed Equator		Crossed Cape Meridian		Passed Cape (Otway)		Arrived Sydney		Days Out
Pericles	Lizard	Aug.	30	Sept.	25	Oct.	17	Nov.	10	Nov.	14	76
Brilliant	Lizard	Aug.	30	Sept.	27	Oct.	20	Nov.	12	Nov.	15	77

The best passages out to Melbourne were the following:—

Ship	Left	On		Arrived	On		Days Out
Sobraon	Plymouth	Oct.	3	Melbourne	Dec.	16	74
Mermerus	Channel	March	26	„	June	11	77
Titania	„	Feb.	21	„	May	7	75
Aristides	„	July	8	„	Sept.	23	77
Loch Vennachar	Clyde	July	4	„	Sept.	23	81
Ben Cruachan	Channel	June	5	„	Aug.	25	81
Loch Garry	Clyde	June	6	„	Aug.	27	82
Sir Walter Raleigh	Channel	June	9	„	Aug.	30	82

PASSAGES TO SYDNEY UNDER 80 DAYS IN 1880.
Ship	Departure			Crossed Equator		Crossed Cape Meridian		Passed Tasmania		Arrived		Days Out
Cimba	Channel	June	11	July	7	July	27			Aug.	21	72
Samuel Plimsoll	Plymouth	April	29	May	15	June	10	July	5	July	9	72
								(Otway)
The Tweed	Lizard	May	15	June	8	June	27	July	21	July	29	75
								(S.W.Cape)
PASSAGES TO MELBOURNE UNDER 80 DAYS IN 1880.
Ship	Departure			Crossed Equator		Crossed Cape Meridian		Passed Cape Otway		Arrived		Days Out
Ben Voirlich	Lizard	June	13	July	8	July	25	Aug.	17	Aug.	19	67
Sir Walter Raleigh	Start	May	17	June	10	June	30	July	22	July	23	67
Romanoff	Lizard	June	11	July	6	July	27	Aug.	17	Aug.	18	68
Ben Cruachan	Lizard	April	18	May	10	May	30			June	27	70
Aristides	Lizard	July	27	Aug.	23	Sept.	12	Oct.	4	Oct.	5	70
Miltiades	Lizard	May	6	May	31	June	21	July	15	July	16	71
Loch Vennachar	Tuskar	June	1	June	27	July	18	Aug.	12	Aug.	12	72
Loch Maree	Greenock	May	1	May	25	June	19	July	12			73
Mermerus	Dungeness	May	14					July	26			73
Salamis	Start	May	27	June	20	July	11	Aug.	10			75
Loch Katrine	Clyde	Dec.	4							Feb.	17 ’81	75
Theophane	Tuskar	Aug.	11							Oct.	27	77
Old Kensington	Channel	April	30							July	17	78

Notes on Passages to Australia in 1880.

It will be noticed that all the ships going out in under 80 days, with exception of Aristides, Loch Katrine and Theophane, left the United Kingdom in April, May or June and got a good slant South. It was also a season of hard winds both in the Channel and North Atlantic and from the limits of the S.E. trades right away to the Otway and even inside the Heads.

Captain Charles Douglas, from the Blackwaller Malabar, took over the Ben Voirlich this year; and on 21st July when south of Gough Island he got 323 and 330 miles out of her in 48 hours before a hard W.S.W. gale.

On the 17th August, when in sight of Cape Schanck, Ben Voirlich was held up by terrific squalls from N.N.W. and N., and had to be brought to under reefed topsails. This cost her a day as she was not able to enter the Heads until the 19th, when the wind shifted to the W.N.W.

Sir Walter Raleigh made the best passage of her career. With a good run down Channel, she took her departure from the Start the day after leaving the Thames, but from the Eddystone to the line she only had two runs of over 200. However between 4th and 11th July in 42° 30′ S., she ran 2128 miles, her best day’s work being only 304 miles, which meant very steady going. She also was held up off her port by strong head winds after being braced sharp up all the way from the meridian of the Leeuwin.