[00:01.040]--- lesson 25 The Cutty Sark “
[00:05.400]--- Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
[00:10.800]--- What piece of bad luck prevented the Cutty Sark from winning the race?
[00:18.440]One of the most famous sailing ships of the nineteenth century, the Cutty Sark, can still be seen at Greenwich.
[00:26.440]She stands on dry land and is visited by thousands of people each year.
[00:32.360]She serves as an impressive reminder of the great ships of the past.
[00:38.600]Before they were replaced by steamships, sailing vessels like the Cutty Sark were used to carry tea from China and wool from Australia.
[00:49.200]The Cutty Sark was one of the fastest sailing ships that has ever been built.^“
[00:54.600]The only other ship to match her was the Thermopylae.
[00:58.680]Both these ships set out from Shanghai on June 18th, 1872 on an exciting race to England.
[01:07.040]This race, which went on for exactly four months, was the last of its kind.
[01:13.000]It marked the end of the great tradition of ships with sails and the beginning of a new era.
[01:20.240]The first of the two ships to reach Java after the race had begun was the Thermopylae, but on the Indian Ocean, the Cutty Sark took the lead.
[01:30.280]It seemed certain that she would be the first ship home, but during the race she had a lot of bad luck.
[01:37.720]In August, she was struck by a very heavy storm during which her rudder was torn away.
[01:44.000]The Cutty Sark rolled from side to side and it became impossible to steer her.
[01:50.040]A temporary rudder was made on board from spare planks and it was fitted with great difficulty.
[01:56.480]This greatly reduced the speed of the ship,
[01:59.280]for there was a danger that if she travelled too quickly, this rudder would be torn away as well.
[02:05.920]Because of this, the Cutty Sark lost her lead.
[02:10.040]After crossing the Equator, the captain called in at a port to have a new rudder fitted,
[02:15.720]but by now the Thermopylae was over five hundred miles ahead
[02:20.560]Though the new rudder was fitted at tremendous speed, it was impossible for the Cutty Sark to win.
[02:26.800]She arrived in England a week after the Thermopylae.
[02:30.920]Even this was remarkable, considering that she had had so many delays.
[02:36.560]There is no doubt that if she had not lost her rudder she would have won the race easily.