Donald McKay (1810–1880) was a Canadian-born American designer and builder of sailing ships. He was born in Jordan Falls on Nova Scotia's South Shore. In 1841, he opened his first yard in Newburyport and moved to Boston in 1845. McKay designed and built some of the most successful clippers ever built. One of his clippers, the Flying Cloud, broke the speed record for a sailing vessel - 89 days from New York To San Francisco.