Marco Polo, The Story of the Fastest Clipper

Publisher: Nimbus

Publication Date: 2006

CA Library Reference:

The battle between sail and steam-power for passengers and cargo was protracted and surprisingly evenly balanced for many years. Indeed, unassisted sail was still operating commercially on the east coast of England until the 1960s. In the 1850s, however, Marco Polo was perhaps sail’s leading standard bearer, winning the title “the fastest ship in the world” on its inaugural voyage between Liverpool and Melbourne when it completed the trip in only 68 days - an average speed of some 8 knots!

However, don’t look for excitement here as Martin Hollenberg has written a leaden account of the main facts. Marco Polo needed to steer a great circle route to achieve its phenomenal time, a prodigious feat of navigation by its captain, “Bully” Forbes. Hollenberg summarises all this by, “As the ship scudded ahead, the sails had to be furled and unfurled, the rigging adjusted, and the helm constantly attended to.” Wow! Hollenberg, a retired medic, then goes on to devote 4 pages or so to the measures taken to prevent disease among the 900 passengers and crew. The good news is that there is still a crying need for someone to do justice to Marco Polo’s amazing achievements and history.

Maybe a spirited CA salt could respond to the challenge? - DWB