For the first five days after crossing the line she had the usual doldrums with torrents of rain and made little or no progress. On 5th October a gentle N.E. trade was picked up in 10° N., 34° W., which held until the 10th when she was in 30° N., 37° W. On the 11th and 12th she had moderate S.E. winds, being in the latitude of St. Michael’s at noon on the 12th. For the next week she had nothing but very light N.E. and E.N.E. winds, but at 10 p.m. on the 19th when in 46° 15′ N., 28° W., a strong northerly breeze sprang up which held until she reached port.
She was off the Old Head of Kinsale at 4 a.m. on 22nd October, passed Minehead at 10 a.m., the Tuskar at 3.30 p.m., and Holyhead Light at 8.30 p.m. A pilot was picked up off Point Lynas at 10.30 p.m., who kept her under easy sail through the night, waiting for enough water to take her over the bar. The _Lightning_ anchored in the Mersey at 9.30 a.m. on 23rd October; her actual time being 64 days 3 hours 10 minutes, a record, which, I believe, has never been broken.
The _Lightning_ brought answers to letters sent out in the _Great Britain_ which left Liverpool on 13th June, thus making a course of post of only 132 days. The _Lightning’s_ round voyage, including 20 days in port, was only 5 months 8 days and 21 hours.
Whilst the _Red Jacket_ and _Lightning_ were astonishing the world, Donald Mackay was building the _Champion of the Seas_ and _James Baines_ for the Black Ball Line. He was given a free hand, and the new vessels were intended to be more perfect than anything he had hitherto attempted.
The _Champion of the Seas_ was launched in April, 1854, and, owing to the monster four-master _Great Republic_ being cut down a deck, claimed the honour of being the largest ship in the world until the _James Baines_ eclipsed her.
Tonnage (builders’ measurement) 2447 tons. „ (registered) 1947 „ Length of keel 238 feet. „ between perpendiculars 252 „ Fore rake 14 „ Extreme beam 45½ „ Depth 29 „ Dead rise at half-floor 18 inches. Sheer 4½ „ Concavity of load line forward 2½ „
In strength of construction she was a considerable improvement on the _Lightning_. Her ends were as long but not quite so sharp or concave and were considered to be more harmoniously designed. She had an upright sternpost and her stern was semi-elliptical and ornamented with the Australian coat-of-arms. Her figure-head was a life-like representation of the old-time shellback and was an object of interest wherever she went.