Talk:Tea race (competitions)

Problems in article
I have added a few citation needed templates to the article to label just some of its problems. I do not have time to identify all of them, and certainly cannot fix any of them at the moment. I think there are many more errors of fact in the current version. ThoughtIdRetired (talk) 07:17, 4 August 2023 (UTC)


 * You added a lot of requests for sources, although you know that there are sources, but you decided to write a lot of comments (you could just add sources), but I told you the author of the article is not me, I just translated it. Yes on some I did not find, but at the bottom there is literature if someone decides to study it he can read it in the book. It's just an ordinary article. Товболатов (talk) 18:35, 4 August 2023 (UTC)


 * User:Товболатов, I perhaps have not explained what I am doing properly. I am working with an unstable internet connection at present, and lots of non-Wikipedia things that need attention. The best way of flagging errors in the article is to stick a citation needed template on it. That way I (or someone else) can get back to it later, whereas if I try and fix it now, it takes a lot of time and I might lose internet before I can save a correction.
 * Right now, I am looking at the table of race results. It has a large number of errors. For instance Taeping seems to have two lines in the table with different versions of the spelling, yet has no mention of being the first vessel home in 1867. This was a significant achievement, since Captain McKinnon had been landed at Cape Town on the outward voyage after being taken ill (he subsequently died), so this return trip was with the first mate in command. Also, I am puzzled by what you are trying to achieve with the notation "last" in this table. There were 50 or more ships sailing back from China each year. When only a small number are listed in this table, I do not see that the word "last" has any meaning.
 * The problem with this article is simply the sheer number of errors. I think what you are looking for is a complete rewrite, which I cannot really help with until I have the time and a fully functional internet connection.
 * I note, also, that many of the ships mentioned in the article could be linked to their own articles in Wikipedia.
 * p.s. just lost internet connection again. This is a cut and paste of the first failed attempt to save ThoughtIdRetired (talk) 19:11, 4 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Well I understand, I work on long haul flights. I spent a lot of time looking for sources today. The table needs improvement, you're right. You have a good eye for detail.--Товболатов (talk) 19:41, 4 August 2023 (UTC)

Links and ship name spelling corrections
Here are some links and spelling corrections for some of the ship names in the article: Ariel Fiery Cross Serica Taitsing Taeping Ziba – no article that I can find Leander Sir Lancelot Flying Spur'' ThoughtIdRetired (talk) 19:34, 4 August 2023 (UTC)


 * I'll add it to the spreadsheet now, thank you. Товболатов (talk) 19:45, 4 August 2023 (UTC)

Wrong reference?
MacGregor's book Merchant Sailing Ships, 1775-1815 (1985) is used as a reference to the article's statement: These races caught the public imagination of the day and were widely reported in newspapers. This statement is correct, though it should be qualified by when the newspapers started coverage of the tea races and when interest faded away. The problem is that the reference has no mention of this at page 155 (the page number given in the article) – that page is actually given over to some illustrations, none of which are of clippers. Given the date range in the title of the book, you would not expect to find this discussed in it anyway. Nor is this mentioned at the same page in the other two books in MacGregor's series on merchant sailing ships (the respective pages are another page of illustrations and a discussion on steam auxiliary sailing ships). Nor does his The Tea Clippers make this statement at page 155, though there is a discussion there of the relative speeds of Ariel and some other ships, but no mention of newspapers. I have similarly checked Fast Sailing Ships and British and American Clippers, by the same author. I could start checking some of Lubbock's books, but he wrote an awful lot of them.

Essentially, then, this is a failed verification issue. Has there been a transcription error in adding this reference? It would be nice to have this properly referenced, ideally with the dates to which such a statement should be applied. ThoughtIdRetired (talk) 13:20, 5 August 2023 (UTC)


 * There's a second link there in the source. I must have gotten it mixed up. [2] History of the Cutty Sark | History. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.history.co.uk/shows/cutty-sark/articles/history-of-the-cutty-sark [Accessed 21 May2014]. Hence the mention of newspapers — 1. The main source of this one there's a pdf below — 1. Another source ref. --Товболатов (talk) 13:56, 5 August 2023 (UTC)


 * Sources: Peace River Remembers, Jack Coulter, Frank Richardson; Turning the Pages of Time – History of Nampa and Surrounding Districts; Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Centre files; Peace River Record-Gazette; Peace River Standard; Coots, Codgers and Curmudgeons – Hal C. Sisson and Dwayne W. Rowe; Edmonton Journal. Beth Wilkins is a researcher at the Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Centre. — 1--Товболатов (talk) 14:09, 5 August 2023 (UTC)


 * [2] David R. Macgregor (1985), Merchant sailing ships, 1775-1815; Sovereignty of Sail, Naval Institute Press, pp 195 Check this page, please. --Товболатов (talk) 14:21, 5 August 2023 (UTC)