It might sound like something out of a movie, but in 1866 five of the best clipper ships of its age set sail from China on an almost 16.000 mile race around the world to see who would be the first to reach London with the first tea of the season, and the world took note. By the 19th century tea was a highly coveted commodity in Europe. So when the monopoly on the tea trade from China to Britain (held by The British East India Company) dissolved, competition between cargo ships started to rise. Promises of better prices for the first cargo landing in England incentivized traders and shippers to look for faster ships, and so, each year, the race was on.
Although the race of 1866 wasn’t an official race, and as many as 57 ships (even more unofficially) set out that year, it stands out because five of the fastest ships of the time contended for the title. There was the Ariel, considered to be the fastest ship of its time. Then there were The Fiery Cross, an older ship but one that made it back to England the fastest in four out of the five previous years and the Serica, the ship that beat out The Fiery Cross that one year in 1964. The Taitsing, launched in Glasgow in 1865 and was on its first major voyage. And finally, the Taeping, which was rebuilt after it had been severely damaged by a typhoon, but seemed faster than ever. The race proved to be a frenzy for anyone remotely interested in shipping or nautical science, the press, and gamblers alike and newspapers kept up daily with reports of how the race was going.
The ships set out between May 29th and June 6th of 1866 (depending on start times and loading times) from modern day Fuzhou in China, crossed the China Sea and the Indian ocean, went around the coastline of Africa, before heading for the English channel. Not all ships and sailing strategies were the same but the race proved extremely close. Four ships (Ariel, Seroca, The Fiery Cross and Taeping) even sailed neck and neck as they passed the Azores archipelago off the coast of Portugal on August 29th. The race remained nail-biting until the end. Eventually, after almost a hundred days at sea, the Taeping was the first to dock in London on September 6, a mere 28 minutes before the Ariel managed to do the same. To avoid any controversy over the close finish the Taeping and the Ariel decided to share the prize.
Another reason why the Great Tea Race of 1866 carried so much weight, is that the age of sailing was coming to an end, making way for steam powered ships. Incidentally, while this race was going on the SS Erl King, an Auxiliary Steam Ship, set out on the 5th of June that year, also from Fuzhou, and managed to make the trek in a mere 77 days, and so the first tea of the season had already been circulating throughout Britain for well over a week when the Clipper arrived. The final nail in the coffin was when the Suez canal was opened in 1869 and steam powered ships could make the journey even faster because the canal was unsuitable for sailing ships. Nevertheless, the Great Tea Race of 1866 shows not only ingenuity and competition in the tea trade, but also the high regard to which tea was held in the time.
