Under Full Sail

by Rob Mundle

How the mighty clipper ships transformed Australia from convict outpost to a nation.

More than one million Australians can trace their heritage to the migrant ships of the mid-to-late 19th century...

The story of the Clipper ships, and the tens of thousands of migrants they bought to the Australian colony of the nineteenth century, is one of the world's great migration stories. For anyone who travelled to Australia before 1850, it was a long and arduous journey that could take as much as four months. With the arrival of the clipper ships, and favourable winds, the journey from England could be done in a little over half this time. It was a revolution in travel that made the clipper ships the jet airlines of their day, bringing keen and willing migrants 'down under' in record time, all hell-bent on making their fortune in Australia.

Rob Mundle is back on the water, with a ripping story that starts on the sea, aboard a clipper ship charging across the Southern Ocean, laden with passengers heading for Melbourne in response to the lure of gold. Brimming with countless stories of the magnificent ships and fearless (and feckless) characters we find on them, like Englishman "Bully" Forbes and American "Bully" Waterman driving their ships to the limit and the tragic legacy of the many shipwrecks that were so much a part of this era.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook

374 pages, Hardcover

Published November 14, 2016

About the author

Rob Mundle is the author of the highly acclaimed international bestseller Fatal Storm. He has written six other books, including the bestselling Sir James Hardy: An Adventurous Life, Alan Bond’s authorised biography,Bond, and Life at the Extreme, the official record of the 2005/2006 Volvo Ocean Race round the world. He lives in Main Beach, Queensland.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellently produced and informative audiobook. Like many other Australians, a couple of my ancestors arrived on Clippers in the 1800s, others arrived a little later in the 1850s on steamships with the opening of the Panama Canal.
This is a fascinating account of the history of The Clippers mainly in The Southern Ocean when they served as the fastest way to voyage to the antipodes through the icy waters in the roaring 40s and other southern latitudes. Really satisfied my interest in sailing, history and geography. Quite a riveting book. Rob Mundle handled the material deftly as usual. I'd read or listen to anything he has a hand in.

[Saturday's Child · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very brave souls left their homelands and took a long, arduous and at times perilous ocean journey to start a new life in another country. When the gold rush took off in Australia many headed to the diggings and clipper ships were the main form of transport. This book is an engaging read into the role these ships and their crew played in transforming the colony of Australia via migration in the late 1800’s. Like more than one million Australians I can trace my heritage to an ocean journey on the Marco Polo, so I was especially interested in reading this.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent insight into this area of Australian and world history, which I have to admit I didn't know much about before. I am now inspired to visit Cutty Sark and City of Adelaide at the next opportunity.

It was fun that the narrator did the accents when quoting people's diaries, although it could be a bit cringe sometimes. The real downside of the audiobook format is no illustrations.

As a general reader, the only questionable bit I noticed was the ready acceptance that Chinese emigrants to both California and Australia were attacked "for their work ethic". Let's not ignore good old racism here, but given you just said they had to put their families into slavery to raise the funds to emigrate it's also not surprising they'd want to earn the required money as quickly as possible in order to free them...

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never realised I was a ship nerd until I discovered Rob Mundle books. In this case, his love of maritime history tells the story of immigration to Australia on clippers. He pulls out the most interesting stories, which means the book keeps a great pace and is totally fascinating. Loved it.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a bit put-off after the first few chapters: the book appeared to be all about sailing ships but seemed to be hell-bent on being a history of Australia in the mid 1800s with a bit of California and their gold rush thrown in as well. Burt it came back on track and started talking more about sailing ships, clippers in particular, and it does this quite well.

I again started to get a bit miffed because the two clipper ships that colour my knowledge of the subject, Cutty Sark and City of Adelaide seemed to have been forgot. But I was wrong, he saved the best to last and i finished his book thinking that it was pretty good after all!

Cheers , me hearties

[Angus Mcfarlane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the description of this era given by Blainey (tyranny of distance) inspired me first time round, but I was equally impressed by this more focused account. In both cases it triggered a desire to write something of my own, not so much about the history itself, as Mundle does a great job at this. Rather the change bought about by the new clipper method initially inspired my imagination about whether future changes might take humanity out of the solar system. This time round I was riven more to the ancestor of mine who might have travelled out to Australia on a clipper (still unsure) and the various influences which inspired a 17 year old Scot to make the voyage (gold rush? Home push?)

Mundle has previously written about Australian sailing races, such as the Sydney to Hobart, an annual event I grew up watching from my grandparents house in Balmoral as the boats exited the Sydney heads. And it is this style of race-craft that he uses in many of the chapters as the drive to break the cross-Atlantic or London-Melbourne records, or simply boat against boat, that carries much of the story. Given the clipper ship innovation was ultimately driven by the commercial advantages of speed, this is an appropriate context. I suspect there were other attractions, such as the size and style of transport the clippers offered, but this seemed to take second place in mundle's account. The sadness at the clipper's passing was described nicely also - realistically but with the sense that something special was worth remembering.

I thoroughly enjoyed it - lots in is that I enjoyed and a reference point I hope to go back to as I dig further into the story of Johnny D.

[Michael Leon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Under Full Sail by Rob Mundle delves into the transformative era of the 19th century when clipper ships revolutionized travel to Australia. These vessels, renowned for their speed, reduced the arduous journey from England to Australia from four months to just over two, facilitating a significant wave of migration. Mundle narrates the experiences of over a million Australians who can trace their ancestry to these voyages, highlighting the ships’ roles in the nation’s development.

The book is rich with tales of the magnificent ships and the fearless characters who sailed them, such as Englishman Bully Forbes and American Bully Waterman, who pushed their vessels to the limit. It also addresses the tragic legacy of the many shipwrecks that were part of this era.

Mundle’s background as a yachtsman and maritime commentator lends authenticity and depth to his writing, although it led to him occasionally becoming bogged down in detail. However overall, Under Full Sail offers a compelling look at how clipper ships and their daring crews played a crucial role in shaping Australia’s history, making it a valuable read for those interested in maritime history and the nation’s colonial past.

[David Holford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Stories of people and ships, races and wrecks, sailors and migrants. It is history, and gives an insight into the clipper era, and where it fits in to the immigration history of Australia. But it only covers a relatively short period of that story, from the 1840s to the 1870s. Clippers were built for speed, and the book focuses on the obsession with getting around the world in the shortest possible time. What was so urgent? That is what the book is about. Clippers have always seemed romantic and exciting to me, since I first saw Cutty Sark in drydock in London when I was a child. Mundle clearly shares that perception. Anyone who loves sailing and the sea, or is like me interested in the urge that people have to move to the other side of the world, will enjoy this book. It is an easy read, which always makes for the best books in my view.

[Peter Langston · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read, as Mundle’s books always are. This lapsed into episodic descriptions of specific voyages as it progressed past the halfway point, which approached boredom. A fine tribute to the clipper ships.

[Taryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm only halfway through (hence the 3 stars, because I need to know how it ends). I'm hoping for a tiny bit less history and more about the actual vessels themselves, but well worth a look-in. The author really knows his gig and is passionate about it.
So far, a great armchair read.

[Mark Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. I really enjoyed it and wholly recommend it.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again I blame Rob Mundle for several sleepless nights. Another well-researched book and an eye opener about conditions onboard the great clipper ships of the mid to late 19th century.

[Steve Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe that this is one of Rob Mundle's best. Really enjoyed it.

[Mark Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting analysis of the 3 decade reign of the Clipper

[David Vernon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am in two minds about this book. The content is generally good, with a logical structure and interesting snippets of information, but it is marred by three issues. Firstly, many of the anecdotes that Mundle recounts about various ships end too soon, leaving the reader wanting to know the full story. Of course this is impossible in a book this size, but perhaps he should have chosen fewer examples and gone into more depth. Secondly, some of the examples he chooses, particularly the lengthy extracts from diaries and journals are simply dull. The extracts should not be printed verbatim but edited themselves. Thirdly and this is not Mundle's fault but his editor did a pretty poor job of editing. There are repeated lines, repeated words, weird stylistic acrobatics and other issues that could have easily been fixed. But most publishers leave this to the authors themselves now and so these things creep in — and too many have crept into this ABC Book. These criticisms aside, if you want a good overview over the Clipper age that is entertaining and quick to read, this book is worth spending your dollars upon.