Christmas Card - Power and Glory 'Spindrift'
An old postcard depicting 'Spindrift'
Another reproduction of a painting of 'Spindrift'
Christmas is over, and I’ve been sorting through greetings
cards received from family and friends. I was taken with a card, on the front of
which there’s a reproduction of a painting by Derek G. M. Gardner of the tea
clipper Spindrift. She is shown
running before heavy seas as she leaves Foochow, bound for London in 1868.
Taking only 97 days to complete the voyage, she was deemed to be the fastest clipper
that year, having taken less time than Ariel,
Sir Lancelot and Taeping, all of them setting out a day before her.
Gardner’s oil painting, ‘Power and Glory’, portrays Sprindrift under full sail, gloriously
running before the wind, and a Chinese junk making to windward. The state of the
water would indicate a good Force 8 or more, which begs the question, why is
the junk not reefed? Assuming Gardner’s painting represents the truth, Captain Middleton, master of the vessel, must have felt supremely
confident to carry full sail in his endeavour to beat his rivals. Without
examining his logbook we shall never know.
This Christmas card was sold to raise money for The Mission
to Seafarers, details of which may be obtained by visiting their website.*
Links
Spindrift
SV Spindrift (Wreck Site)
Download Postcard of Spindrift
Spindrift – London Art News
The Glittering Spindrift Running before the Wind – Art Daily.org
Tea Clippers
*Mission to Seafarers
One World – One Mission
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