A question answered!

One question that visitors to Shamrock often ask is, "how could a crew of two manage to sail Shamrock"? We know that then ships were made of wood and men were made of iron but they weren't that good. It has always been suspected that the sails used then were a lot lighter than her existing heavy canvas sails. Peter has always said that her existing sails are strong enough to take Shamrock around Cape Horn, (no thanks.) Now with the arrival of a 1939 vintage photo of Shamrock beached and unloading we have some proof that this is true. Also, after careful comparison we now know that the original gaffs and booms were also a lot lighter than her present ones. Other differences have been noted and discussed.

Thanks to James Hunter for supplying the photo and his grandfather for taking it.