Sea Witch
The Sea Witch was a clipper ship built in New York in 1846. The design was innovative and the ship was famously fast.
With Captain Robert Wateman in command, she undertook record-breaking runs. Her two fastest journeys between New York and Canton stand to this day as the fastest ever for a ship under sail.
In the days before the Panama Canal (completed 1914), the Sea Witch was also the first to travel between New York and San Francisco by way of Cape Horn in less than a hundred days. By 1848, the gold rush was under way, and speed was of the essence for delivery of supplies to what would two years later become the state of California.
The first of the clippers, the Sea Witch definitely made good time. According to Melbourne Smith, her pace was about double that of contemporary sailing vessels.