Variations
The route sailed by a sailing ship was always heavily dictated by the wind conditions, which are generally reliable from the west in the forties and fifties. Even here, however, winds are variable, and the precise route and distance sailed would depend on the conditions on a particular voyage. Ships in the deep Southern Ocean could find themselves faced with persistent headwinds, or even becalmed.
Sailing ships attempting to go against the route, however, could have even greater problems. In 1922, Garthwray attempted to sail west around the Horn carrying cargo from the Firth of Forth to Iquique, Chile. After two attempts to round the Horn the "wrong way", her master gave up and sailed east instead, reaching Chile from the other direction.
Even more remarkable was the voyage of Garthneill in 1919. Attempting to sail from Melbourne to Bunbury, Western Australia, a distance of 2,000 miles (3,200 km), she was unable to make way against the forties winds south of Australia, and was faced by strong westerly winds again when she attempted to pass through the Torres Strait to the north. She finally turned and sailed the other way, passing the Pacific, Cape Horn, the Atlantic, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Indian Ocean to finally arrive in Bunbury after 76 days at sea.
Read more about this topic: Clipper Route
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