These tables include, most if not all, voyages made by American clipper ships.
| 1848 | 1849 | 1850 | 1851 | 1852 | 1853 | 1854 | 1855 | 1856 | 1857 | 1858 | 1859 | 1860 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dep. | Voy. | Days | Voy. | Days | Voy. | Days | Voy. | Days | Voy. | Days | Voy. | Days | Voy. | Days | Voy. | Days | Voy. | Days | Voy. | Days | Voy. | Days | Voy. | Days | Voy. | Days |
| Jan | 0 | 0,0 | 7 | 181,9 | 2 | 129,5 | 2 | 131,5 | 4 | 130,0 | 15 | 125,5 | 9 | 114,6 | 11 | 122,2 | 9 | 112,7 | 8 | 131,8 | 10 | 125,1 | 7 | 126,3 | 6 | 123,3 |
| Feb | 0 | 0,0 | 12 | 210,3 | 3 | 133,0 | 0 | 0,0 | 7 | 141,3 | 12 | 139,3 | 7 | 123,9 | 13 | 124,2 | 9 | 121,0 | 5 | 127,2 | 8 | 137,6 | 5 | 135,0 | 4 | 121,2 |
| Mar | 0 | 0,0 | 10 | 178,2 | 2 | 121,5 | 4 | 143,3 | 8 | 122,5 | 11 | 119,6 | 10 | 126,6 | 11 | 131,4 | 6 | 126,8 | 5 | 134,2 | 9 | 123,2 | 10 | 136,5 | 5 | 126,4 |
| Apr | 0 | 0,0 | 3 | 144,0 | 2 | 110,5 | 0 | 0,0 | 3 | 134,0 | 13 | 132,4 | 5 | 121,6 | 9 | 136,9 | 9 | 123,9 | 7 | 127,7 | 6 | 133,9 | 8 | 121,8 | 9 | 131,3 |
| May | 0 | 0,0 | 0 | 0,0 | 1 | 122,0 | 3 | 121,7 | 8 | 129,0 | 11 | 135,7 | 9 | 123,6 | 6 | 134,5 | 10 | 134,7 | 8 | 125,1 | 7 | 132,4 | 6 | 155,0 | 5 | 140,8 |
| Jun | 0 | 0,0 | 0 | 0,0 | 1 | 128,0 | 2 | 115,0 | 8 | 126,8 | 9 | 121,0 | 9 | 124,7 | 7 | 136,3 | 13 | 139,9 | 3 | 137,7 | 8 | 136,1 | 9 | 139,3 | 4 | 132,2 |
| Jul | 0 | 0,0 | 0 | 0,0 | 4 | 128,3 | 3 | 122,3 | 8 | 136,6 | 9 | 144,7 | 9 | 131,4 | 7 | 130,1 | 6 | 139,5 | 8 | 141,0 | 5 | 134,6 | 2 | 144,0 | 4 | 137,5 |
| Aug | 0 | 0,0 | 0 | 0,0 | 1 | 109,0 | 4 | 110,0 | 12 | 123,8 | 13 | 129,2 | 7 | 134,1 | 7 | 135,9 | 6 | 145,0 | 5 | 130,8 | 5 | 143,0 | 4 | 149,3 | 4 | 137,5 |
| Sep | 0 | 0,0 | 0 | 0,0 | 0 | 0,0 | 1 | 131,0 | 7 | 119,3 | 12 | 127,8 | 5 | 123,6 | 9 | 141,2 | 5 | 125,4 | 2 | 130,5 | 8 | 153,1 | 5 | 145,2 | 6 | 131,8 |
| Oct | 1 | 150,0 | 1 | 133,0 | 2 | 122,5 | 4 | 112,3 | 6 | 108,3 | 12 | 116,8 | 8 | 122,1 | 9 | 133,9 | 8 | 131,0 | 4 | 124,3 | 7 | 145,9 | 8 | 132,3 | 5 | 119,6 |
| Nov | 2 | 151,5 | 1 | 122,0 | 2 | 132,5 | 6 | 111,5 | 11 | 117,6 | 7 | 121,1 | 13 | 133,8 | 11 | 129,5 | 4 | 108,3 | 4 | 115,3 | 11 | 129,9 | 5 | 112,0 | 6 | 126,7 |
| Dec | 4 | 165,3 | 0 | 0,0 | 2 | 126,5 | 2 | 128,0 | 12 | 116,9 | 7 | 111,9 | 11 | 115,9 | 12 | 113,4 | 8 | 114,6 | 5 | 125,2 | 10 | 130,9 | 7 | 113,4 | 7 | 114,7 |
| Year | 7 | 159,1 | 34 | 184,3 | 22 | 125,3 | 31 | 120,7 | 94 | 124,4 | 131 | 127,6 | 102 | 124,9 | 112 | 129,6 | 93 | 127,7 | 64 | 129,6 | 94 | 134,6 | 76 | 133,0 | 65 | 128,1 |
For the entire period under study the following figures are found:
| 1848-1860 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Departure | Voyages | Days |
| January | 90 | 127,9 |
| February | 86 | 141,5 |
| March | 91 | 133,4 |
| April | 74 | 129,5 |
| May | 74 | 133,0 |
| June | 73 | 132,1 |
| July | 65 | 136,1 |
| August | 68 | 132,2 |
| September | 60 | 133,6 |
| October | 75 | 125,8 |
| November | 83 | 124,2 |
| December | 87 | 120,0 |
| Year | 926 | 130,6 |
As can be seen from the first table, the pre-clipper days of October 1848 to April 1849 show significantly longer voyage times.
The February figures are affected by the twelve voyages in 1849 which had the average length of 210 days [119-240 days].
Since the voyages lasted for three months or more all seasonal weather changes could not be avoided as the voyages covered two Oceans and two hemispheres.
Updated 1999-03-03 by Lars Bruzelius.
Sjöhistoriska Samfundet | The Maritime History Virtual Archives.
Copyright © 1999 Lars Bruzelius.