Donald McKay

Donald McKay (1810 to 1880) was a Nova Scotian-born American shipbuilder renowned for designing and constructing some of the fastest sailing vessels ever built. Working from his own shipyard in East Boston, Massachusetts, which he established in 1845, McKay built a series of extreme clipper ships whose hull designs prioritized speed and stability on long ocean voyages during the mid nineteenth century clipper era. His ship Flying Cloud became one of the most celebrated clippers of the age for its speed on the route around Cape Horn to California, his Sovereign of the Seas set a record as the fastest sailing vessel ever recorded at 22 knots in 1854, and his Champion of the Seas set a 24 hour sailing distance record of 465 miles that same December, a record that stood for around 130 years. McKay's Great Republic, at 4,555 tons, remained the largest clipper ship ever built. Born on September 4, 1810, in Jordan Falls, Nova Scotia, McKay died on September 20, 1880, in Hamilton, Massachusetts, leaving a lasting mark on nineteenth century maritime transport through his hull designs.