Northern Light (clipper)

Portrait painting of Northern Light, by William Bradford, 1853. On display at the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
History
United States
Name	Northern Light
Builder	Brigs Brothers, South Boston, Massachusetts
Launched	25 September 1851
Maiden voyage	20 November 1851
Fate	Abandoned at sea, 2 January 1862
General characteristics
Type	Clipper
Tonnage	1,021
Length	180 ft (55 m)
Beam	36 ft (11 m)
Draft	21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Notes	[1]

Northern Light was an American clipper ship. In 1853 it sailed from San Francisco, California to Boston, Massachusetts via Cape Horn with Captain Freeman Hatch at the helm in a record-setting 76 days, 6 hours. The record still stands for a single hull vessel. In 1993 the record was soundly broken by a multi-hull sailing vessel Great American II with no cargo. Sailing around Cape Horn (the southernmost tip of South America) is widely regarded as one of the most challenging routes in yachting, due to extreme weather, strong currents, and a historical reputation for mountainous seas and frequent severe storms.