History of our name

Many people ask us how we came to be named Northern Light. When we were searching for a name for the company, we were inspired by the story of the clipper ship named Northern Light. She was built in Boston in 1851 and was designed by the brilliant naval architect Samuel H. Pook. His design for the new Northern Light was radically innovative, being raked very sharply below the waterline and with full and powerful lines topside. The new ship's figurehead was a full length angel, carrying a golden torch ahead.

The new design was controversial and in the 1850's America, clipper ship design was debated in homes, taverns, and at social gatherings the way we debate major league baseball strategies today. There was intense competition between schools of design, and regional pride got involved, as Boston and New York vied for leadership in clipper ship technology, with the local communities cheering for their hometown favorites.

The new design of the Northern Light proved to be a great success. When it came to speed, the clipper ships were in a class by themselves, and in this class of champions, the Northern Light was very fast, perhaps the fastest of them all.

In 1854, the Northern Light participated in the only head-to-head race of the clipper ship era, leaving San Francisco two days behind two highly regarded clipper ships from the New York school of clipper ship design, all three headed for the East Coast of the United States. Even with the communications technology of the day, the whole nation was able to follow the race as other ships would sight the three contestants and then telegraph their sighting from the nearest port. When the Northern Light was spotted charging into Boston harbor under full sail, days ahead of the competition, it touched off a wild victory celebration that rocked through the streets of the city for four days.

The record for that voyage from San Francisco around Cape Horn to an east coast port of 76 days 8 hours stood until the 1990s when the record was broken by a high-tech catamaran using satellite navigation, modern weather reporting, and being purpose built for speed (the clipper ships were freighters and carried a full load of cargo on every trip). How many other vehicle speed records have stood for 150 years?

The Northern Light. Built in Boston. A radical new design. The best technology. May we be as successful.