From John Watkinson
Your article states “The Cutty Sark’s design is inherently flawed” (10 April, p 25). I beg to differ. In the days before antifouling paint, the only weapon against barnacles was copper sheet, a layer of which was attached to the boat beneath the waterline. However, copper sheet on an iron frame in salt water would electrolytically self-destruct. The Cutty Sark’s wooden planking acted to insulate the copper sheath from the iron frame.
She was a stunning piece of design and stayed in service for more than 50 years despite the stresses of a rig that put out around 3000 horsepower and allowed her to overtake steamships. As a colleague said today, “If that’s a design fault, we need more design faults”.
Reading, Berkshire, UK
