The Ariel Designed by: Robert Steele
Length: 195'
Built for: Shaw, Maxton, & Co. Displacement: 852 tons
Built at: Greenock, Scotland
Type: Composite ship (iron frame, wood planking)
Launch Date: 1865
Cargo: Tea, silk, coal, rice

The annual clipper ship race from China with the first teas of the season always caused great excitement, and the Ariel was one of the few oak and teak ships built especially for this purpose.

Her first captain, John Keay, said of her, "Ariel was a perfect beauty to every nautical man who saw her. In symmetrical grace and proportion she satisfied the eye, and put all in love with her without exception."

In 1872, Ariel left London bound for Sydney. Unfortunately, the beautiful tea ship never arrived and no trace of her was ever found. She was said to be a "ticklish" ship to handle in the "roaring forties" and it was supposed that she had "broached to" and "foundered" (hit by a giant wave and sunk)
The Taeping Designed by: Robert Steele & Co.
Length: 183'7"
Built for: Captain Rodger Displacement: 767 tons
Built at: Greenock, Scotland
Type: Composite ship (iron frame, wood planking)
Launch Date: 1863 Cargo: Tea, rice, general freight

The Taeping was designed and built for speed. The goal was to contend with the Fiery Cross, which was the fastest ship in the China tea trade. But during her first year of service, a series of mishaps kept the Taeping out of competition so it wasn't until the following year that the ships could compete.

In the race the Taeping secured the prize, which was an extra freight of 10s. a ton on her cargo of tea.

The Taeping's last voyage came in the early 1870's. She sailed from Amoy to New York and was wrecked on Ladd's Reef. Only the Mate's boat, with six men aboard, was found after three days of drifting.
About the Artist of both pictures
Born in 1952, Efren Erese soon displayed artistic prowess beyond his years. At the age of five, he was producing remarkably sophisticated drawings and watercolors.At the age of fourteen, he discovered his chosen medium - oil on canvas - and supported himself through high school and college with his art. While drawing inspiration from such modern marine masters as Montague, Dawson and Spurling, Erese has developed his own unique style, while still honoring the tradition of the masters.Efren, a lay preacher and father of three, resides with his wife and family in Pampanga, Luzon, The Philippines, and is a founding member of the Pacific Artists Guild.

The Race The Taeping, Serica, and Ariel, arriving on the same tide in the Thames after a voyage of 16,000 miles which they accomplished in ninety-nine days.

The Great Tea Race Regatta

When one reads about the great clipper ships, such as the Cutty Sark, one becomes spellbound by the races that brought tea from the Far East to England and other ports of call.

Clipper ships built from 1850 onward at the Aberdeen, Glasgow and Liverpool shipyards competed in the famous annual “Tea Race” to resolve who would be the first to unload the new harvest of China tea after a globe-spanning, 16,000 miles regatta.

With names such as Crest of the Wave, Fiery Cross, Falcon, Taeping, Ariel, Sir Lancelot, Thermophylae, Flying Cloud, Osaka, The Caliph, Blackadder and Lord of the Isles, the famous tea clippers sailed the oceans carrying their precious tea cargos.

The tea races were based upon profit, but who can deny the thrill of the Great Tea Races? The Ariel was an extreme composite clipper built in 1865 by Robert Steele & Co., Greenock, dimensions: 197'4×33'9"×21', tonnage 1058,73 tns, 853 NRT. She had 100 tons of fixed iron ballast molded into the timbers. An undated sail-plan in the Science Museum, London, shows her rigged with double topsails and main skysail.
Brereton, James (Born 1954)
1866 - 'Ariel' and 'Taeping'
Stock code: C3129
Catalogue number: 32

Biography
James Brereton was born in Derby and studied at the Joseph Wright School in Derby. He decided  to concentrate on marine painting at a young age, becoming a professional artist in 1979. His main  influences are Thomas Somerscales, Montague Dawson and Charles Dixon. He has exhibited widely in England, including the Royal Society of Marine Artists in London. His works are illustrated in Denys Brook-Hart’s book on Twentieth Century Marine Paintings.
 

EXCERPTS FROM THE ARIEL'S SHIP LOG READS:

1865 June 29 - Launched and put on the China tea trade. 

1865 October 14 — January 6 - Gravesend — Hong Kong, 79 days 21 hours, pilot to pilot or 83 days anchor to anchor, against
the monsoon. 

1866 In the Great Tea Race of 1866 Ariel docked at East India Docks 20 minutes before Taeping docked at the London Docks.
 
1867 Came second after Sir Lancelot beaten by ? hours after 99 days from Foo-Chow in the Tea Race of 1867. 

1868 Arrived as the first ship to London in the Tea Race of 1868, one hour ahead of Taeping. 

1872 Posted missing outward bound for China. 

The lone and beautiful survivor, Cutty Sark, was designed by Hercules Linton and built by Scott & Linton at Dumbarton in 1869 as a composite built extreme clipper ship for "Old White Hat" Jock Willis of London. She sailed on the China Tea Trade for a couple of seasons without distinguishing herself. She achieved fame in 1872 by reaching London after having lost her rudder in the middle of the Indian Ocean off the Cape of Good Hope when racing Themophylae for London with the first tea. The Cutty Sark is the only clipper surviving from that glorious period and can be visited by the public at Greenwich, on the Thames. 

Sea travel remains the preferred shipping method for chests of tea. There is still the mystery and enchantment of the ocean and the excitement of opening each chest of tea however, some of us remain captivated by the stories of the clipper ships who raced their
way to deliver their tea cargos from distant lands. 

HISTORY OF THE ARIEL
 
The name ARIEL is known from Biblical times and also from Shakespeare's time. However, the seafaring tradition of Ariel goes back to the famous Clipper ship ARIEL.

Ariel's history is as follows:

Robert Steele & Co., Greenock, Scotland built ARIEL as an extreme composite clipper ship in 1865. Her dimensions were:

197' 4" long X 33' 9" Wide with a 21' draft. The tonnage was 1058.73 tons with an 853 NRT. She had 100 tons of fixed iron ballast molded into the limbers. There is an undated sail-plan in the Science Museum in London that shows her rigged with double topsails and main skysail.

The chronology was as follows:

June 29, 1865
Launched at the shipyard of Robert Steele & Co., Greenock for Shaw, Lowther, Maxton & Co., and commenced work on the China tea trade. October 14, and also January 6, 1865 Sailed from Gravesend, Kent to Hong Kong in the record 79 days 21 hours, pilot to pilot or 83 days anchor to anchor, against the monsoon.

1866
In the 'Great Tea' race of 1866, 'Ariel' docked at East India docks 20 minutes before the 'Taeping' after a long and hard race 'Ariel' won the day and the race fair and square.

1867
'Ariel' came in second after the 'Sir Lancelot' beaten only by hours. This race lasted 99 days from Foo-Chow in the famous Tea race of 1867.

1868
In this year 'Ariel' arrived in London and was the first ship to enter the port and beat the 'Taeping' by one hour.

1872
A sad year for 'Ariel' and all whom sailed on her. She was listed as missing with all lost while on the outward-bound voyage from London bound for China. A great loss for her owners and for the families of the men lost at sea. 'Ariel' in the Great Tea Race was depicted in the splendid oil painting by Sir Montague Dawson and show 'Ariel' with 'Taeping' racing neck to neck in a rough and windy sea.