When the Golden Hinde, a replica of Francis Drake’s ship, sailed into Hong Kong
- Built as closely as possible to the 16th-century original, the captain called her ‘a pig to steer’
- She called into the city on the way to Britain, where she would take part in Drake’s 400th anniversary events
“Drake’s ship sails in,” ran a headline in the South China Morning Post on January 14, 1980. “She might look as though she has just sailed out of the pages of history, but to her captain and crew, the Golden Hinde is just another boat to be delivered,” the story began.
“The ship, a replica of the one sailed round the world by Sir Francis Drake 400 years ago, is making a commemorative circumnavigation to mark the event. Yesterday she arrived in Hongkong, sailing into the harbour like something lost in time, and looking deceptively frail and tiny at only just over 100 feet in length.
“In fact, the Hinde, built as closely as possible to 16th century specifications, has already proved her mettle by sailing from Plymouth to San Francisco by Drake’s route in 1973, and then crossing the Pacific to Japan to star in the film Shogun last year.”
The replica Golden Hinde cost a reported US$1 million to build. As she was nearing the end of her inaugural voyage, “Captain Adrian Small, the master, told the US Coast Guard in a radio message sent from off the Mexican coast that the ship ‘rolls like a cow and steers like a bitch’,” the Post had reported on March 11, 1975.
The crew tasked with sailing her from Hong Kong back to Britain, where the ship was to take part in “a series of events linked with the Drake anniversary”, had a similar feedback. “So far, the only things we’ve had trouble with have been things like the radio and the electrics,” the skipper, Peter Haward, told the paper. “Mind you, she is a pig to steer.”
The Hinde departed Hong Kong in “a gracefully inconclusive race”, which pitted the 16th century galleon against a 19th century Chinese lorcha, the Huan, on January 29, 1980, with both vessels “reaching the finish line roughly together”.
On February 26, the Post reported that the Hinde “has arrived safely in Singapore, despite fears that pirates and storms might plague its voyage from Hongkong.”
