Cutty Sark and Gipsy Moth IV
King William Walk, London SE10

The Cutty Sark is the world's only surviving tea and wool clipper  These fast merchant sailing ships crossed the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in the 19th century. 

The Cutty Sark's name is taken from the poem 'Tam O'Shanter' by Robert Burns which describes a witch wearing only a 'cutty sark', a corruption of the French 'courte chemise' or short shirt.   The figurehead on the prow of the Cutty Sark is dressed in a similar garment.  

Launched in 1869 as a tea carrier, this ship won the annual clippers' race from Shanghai to London in 1871, in a time of 107 days.  However, with the coming of steam power and the opening of the Suez Canal, the usefulness of sailing ships began to decline.  The Cutty Sark made her last voyage in 1938 and was put on display here in 1957. 

Wander around the beautifully restored ship, with her gilded teak fittings, and gaze up at the rigging on her three masts (capable of holding 30,000 square feet of canvas). 

The crew's quarters below decks reveal how the merchant seamen worked, lived, ate and slept in the very limited space.  Exhibitions show the history of sail and the Pacific trade.  The Cutty Sark also contains collections of naval prints and relics and largest collection of carved and painted ships' figureheads in the world.  A video display of archive film shows the life on board the great square riggers in the 1920s and 1930s. 

On summer weekends costumed storytelling sessions are held on the Cutty Sark, illustrating life aboard the ship.

Next to the Cutty Sark, and dwarfed by comparison, is the yacht Gipsy Moth IV.  It was in this ketch that Sir Francis Chichester made the first single-handed round-the-world voyage in 1966 - 67, in nine months and one day covering 30,000 miles.  Chichester, who was 66 at the time, had to endure cramped conditions on the 54 foot vessel.  His achievement earned Chichester the distinction of being knighted by the Queen on board Gipsy Moth IV, using the sword with which Elizabeth I had honoured her great sea captain Sir Francis Drake.

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