A key ingredient in New England’s shipping successes was the speed with which its vessels completed their voyages. The principle research on this subject was completed by Gary Walton and published in its first form in 1967. Walton was ahead of his time in identifying the importance of a detailed study of colonial shipping and linking it to a broader Atlantic World. He draws several conclusions. First, that technological change between 1675 and 1775 was minimal in the industry. Second, costs and crew sizes declined due to increases in security after the Royal Navy eliminated piracy. Third, idle time in port decreased, leading to more efficiencies in acquiring cargo. Fourth, and finally, vessel speeds were stagnant throughout the period and were 1.6 to 1.97 knots for the voyage south between New England and the West Indies and 1.31 to 2.09 knots for the return trip. Averages calculated by Walton indicate speeds of between 1.6 and 1.8 knots, with the southbound legs slightly faster. I agree with Walton on all of his conclusions except for the last. Careful study of 145 logbooks chronicling the voyages of Massachusetts’s vessels in the West Indies trade indicates that the median vessel speed over the approximately 1,500 nautical miles from Boston to the islands was 2.71 knots and the mean speed approached 2.84 knots. In fact, the median southbound speed was five per cent slower than the trip home. In practical terms, this meant that according to Walton the time it took to travel 1,500 nautical miles averaged a minimum of almost 35 days. According to the logbooks, however, merchant mariners completed voyages between New England and the West Indies in slightly more than 25 days on average, 28 per cent faster than Walton figured.

新英格兰航运成功的一个关键因素是其船舶完成航行的速度。关于这一主题的主要研究由加里沃尔顿完成，并于 1967 年以第一版的形式出版。沃尔顿在确定详细研究殖民航运并将其与更广泛的大西洋世界联系起来方面走在了他的时代之前。他得出几个结论。首先，1675 年至 1775 年间的技术变革在该行业中微乎其微。其次，由于皇家海军消除海盗行为后安全性的提高，成本和船员人数下降。三是港口闲置时间减少，取货效率提高。第四，也是最后，船速在整个期间停滞不前，在新英格兰和西印度群岛之间向南航行的航速为 1.6 到 1.97 节，1.31 到 2 节。回程 09 节。沃尔顿计算的平均值表明速度在 1.6 到 1.8 节之间，南行航段略快。我同意沃尔顿的所有结论，除了最后一个。仔细研究记录了马萨诸塞州船只在西印度群岛贸易中航行的 145 份日志表明，从波士顿到岛屿的大约 1,500 海里的平均船速为 2.71 节，平均速度接近 2.84 节。事实上，南行速度的中位数比回家的速度慢 5%。实际上，这意味着根据沃尔顿的说法，旅行 1,500 海里所需的时间平均至少需要近 35 天。然而，根据日志，