Donald McKay

Donald McKay (September 4, 1810 – September 20, 1880) was a Canadian-born American designer and builder of sailing ships, famed for his record-setting clippers.
Early life.
He was born in Jordan Falls, Shelburne County on Nova Scotia's South Shore. He was the oldest son and one of eighteen children of Hugh McKay, a fisherman and a farmer, and Ann McPherson McKay. Both of his parents were of Scottish descent. He was named after his grandfather, Captain Donald McKay, a British officer, who after the Revolutionary war moved to Nova Scotia from the Scottish Highlands.
Early years as a shipbuilder.
In 1826 McKay moved to New York, working for shipbuilders Brown & Bell and was an apprentice of Isaac Webb from 1827 to 1831. After 1832 he did some freelance jobs for Webb and Smith & Dimon. McKay also freelanced for Brown & Bell at their Wescasset's shipyard. In 1840 at Newburyport, he was contracted to finish "Delia Walker", 427 tons, for John Currier, Jr. Currier was very impressed with McKay and offered him a five year contract, which McKay refused driven by desire to own his own business. 
In 1841, William Currier offered McKay to become a partner of what would become Currier & McKay shipyard in Newburyport. The partnership did not last long and soon McKay found himself in McKay & Pickett, building the packet "St. George". The partnership with William Pickett was "pleasant and profitable", but after the success of the "Joshua Bates" the shipyard became too small for McKay's ambitions and he was convinced by Enoch Train to move to East Boston and open his own business. 
East Boston shipyard.
In 1845 McKay, as a sole owner, established his own shipyard on Border Street, East Boston, where he built some of the finest American ships for almost 25 years. One of his first large orders was building five large packet ships for Enoch Train's White Diamond line between 1845 and 1850. 
Between 1845 and 1850 McKay built five large packet ships for Enoch Train's White Diamond line: "Washington Irving", "Anglo Saxon", "Anglo American", "Daniel Webster", and "Ocean Monarch". The "Ocean Monarch" was lost to fire on August 28, 1848, soon after leaving Liverpool and within sight of Wales; over 170 of the passengers and crew perished. The "Washington Irving" carried Patrick Kennedy, grandfather of Kennedy family patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., to Boston in 1849.
In the summer of 1851, McKay visited Liverpool and secured a contract to build four large ships for James Baines & Co.'s Australian trade: "Lightning" (1854), "Champion of the Seas" (1854), "James Baines" (1854), and "Donald McKay" (1855). 
Late life.
In 1869, under financial pressure from previous losses, McKay sold his shipyard and worked for some time in other shipyards. He retired to his farm near Hamilton, Massachusetts, spending the rest of his life there. He died in 1880 in relative poverty and was buried in Newburyport.
Design practices.
McKay's designs were characterized by a long fine bow with increasing hollow and waterlines. He was perhaps influenced by the writings of John W. Griffiths, designer of the China clipper "Rainbow" in 1845. The long hollow bow helped to penetrate rather than ride over the wave produced by the hull at high speeds, reducing resistance as hull speed is approached. Hull speed is the natural speed of a wave the same length as the ship, in knots, formula_1, where LWL = Length of Water Line in feet. His hulls had a shorter afterbody, putting the center of buoyancy farther aft than was typical of the period, as well as a full midsection with rather flat bottom. These characteristics led to lower drag at high speed compared to other ships of similar length, as well as great stability which translated into the ability to carry sail in high winds (more power in extreme conditions). His fishing schooner design was even more radical than his clippers, being a huge flat-bottomed dinghy similar in form to 20th century planing boats. These design changes were not favorable for light wind conditions such as were expected on the China trade, but were profitable in the California and Australian trades.
Legacy and honors.
Pan Am named one of their Boeing 747s "Clipper Donald McKay" in his honor.
There is a monument to McKay in South Boston, near Fort Independence, overlooking the channel, that lists all his ships. There were more than thirty ships listed.
His house in East Boston was designated a Boston Landmark in 1977 and is also on the National Register of Historic Places.
McKay was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame on November 9, 2019.