Captain William Howes - A clipper ship built in 1853 by Hayden & Cudworth, Medford, MA. Dimensions 180'×36'×22'9" and tonnage 1051 15/95 tons. The figurehead was a guilded eagle on the wing. The Climax was the first ship to be equipped with Captain Howes' patented double topsails. This enabled her reduce the size of the crew to about half, or 14 men and two boys. 1853 Launched at the shipyard of Hayden & Cudworth, Medford, MA, for Howes and Crowell, Boston. 1853 March 28 - July 21 Sailed from Boston to San Francisco in 115 days under command of Captain William F. Howes. The freight for the 1785 tons of cargo was $56.000. She sailed the day after the clipper ship the Competitor and overtook her before the Line and had a lead of six days when she got into the Pacific but was overhauled the latter and finally arrived to San Francisco in the same number of days.