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White Wings Vol I. Fifty Years Of Sail In The New Zealand Trade, 1850 TO 1900

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the Sam Mendel was a handsome and exceedingly fast craft, but she did not keep up her reputation in many of her runs to New Zealand. During her earlier career she was engaged in the Indian and Australian trade, and made some remarkable passages from London to Melbourne. She was a beautiful ship from all points, iron built, with the lines of a yacht. She had a long bow, with the cleanest of entrances combined with good bearings, and a fine run that left but little dead water behind it. She was both taut and square of rig, with raking masts, and carried a great deal of canvas in her foretopgallants, the yards being particularly square, with corresponding hoist to the sails. She was a poop and topgallant-forecastle ship, of 1034 tons, and was built at West Hartlepool in 1861, by Messrs. Piles, Spence, and Co., the builders of the celebrated Undine and other clippers. Her owner was Mr. J. Coupland, of Liverpool, and she was chartered by the Shaw, Savill and Albion Co. After sailing the seas for nearly 50 years this famous clipper was sold to Sweden and renamed the Charlonus. She was later sold again, and her name chaged to Hanna. In 1908-9 she was condemned at Genoa, and broken up.

It has frequently been stated in the New Zealand Press that the Sam Mendel in 1876 made a record passage to Port Chalmers of 68 days. This is not correct. The fast passage was made in 1874, when she ran to Port Chalmers in 75 days, port to port, or 69 land to land. This, however, is not the record passage, which is still held by the ship Westland. Still it was the second fastest run to Port Chalmers up till 1874.