Cutty Sark is the world’s only surviving extreme clipper. Most of the hull fabric you see today dates back to its original construction. Clipper ships are marked by three design characteristics - a long, narrow hull, a sharp bow which cuts through the waves rather riding atop - and three raking masts. Cutty Sark is 150 years old. During its years as a British merchant ship, Cutty Sark visited sixteen different countries and travelled the equivalent of two and a half voyages to the moon and back. Launched on 22 November 1869 in Dumbarton, Scotland, it embarked on its maiden voyage from London to Shanghai on 16 February 1870. On its first voyage, Cutty Sark carried ‘large amounts of wine, spirits and beer’, and came back from Shanghai loaded with 1.3 million pounds of tea. Cutty Sark was built to last for just thirty years but served as a working ship for fifty-two years, a training ship for twenty-two years and has been open to visitors in Maritime Greenwich for sixty years.