page_title: Maritime history of California
section_title: The clippers
hierarchical_section_title: Maritime history of California / U.S. California naval activity / California Gold Rush shipping / The clippers
caption_attribution_description: English: Sailing card for the clipper ship Hornet.
context_page_description: In the California coast, the use of ships and the Pacific Ocean has historically included water craft, fisheries, shipbuilding, Gold Rush shipping, ports, shipwrecks, naval ships and installations, and lighthouses. The maritime history of California can be divided into several periods: the Native American period; European exploration period from 1542 to 1769; the Spanish colonial period, 1769 to 1821; the Mexican period, 1821 to 1847; and United States statehood period, which continues to the present day.
context_section_description: The clippers, developed and mainly used between about 1840 and 1860 were some of the last and "best" commercial sailing ships invented. The clippers had more sails and faster hulls and were some of the fastest sailing ships ever developed. The clippers required a larger crew to man the larger expanse of sails and typically carried high value cargo with few passenger accommodations. Under ideal conditions clippers have been logged at over 20 mph (17 kn; 32 km/h)—covering over 450 miles (720 km) in one day. The average speed over a long journey was about 8 mph (7.0 kn; 13 km/h). The typical clipper carried high value, large volume cargo and normally carried only about six passengers. They competed with the paddle steamers on the shorter Panama, Nicaragua, and Mexican routes. Because of their shorter runs these paddle steamers were faster but much more costly to run and typically only took high value cargo like passengers, mail and gold shipments. Clippers averaged about 120 days passage on the about 17,000 miles (27,000 km) trip between East Coast cities and San Francisco—about 80 days faster travel than the conventional sailing ships.
  In 1845 the Rainbow, 757 tons OM, the first extreme clipper was launched in New York. These American clippers were larger vessels designed to sacrifice cargo capacity for speed. They had a bow lengthened above the water, a drawing out and sharpening of the forward body, and the greatest breadth further aft. Extreme clippers were built in the period 1845 to 1855.
  Clippers sometimes took a trip across the Pacific Ocean to Shanghai or some other port in China to pick up a cargo of tea, silk, porcelain, etc. for a profitable return trip to their home port. The alternative was to return in ballast with a useless cargo of rocks. Some Clippers were used on the Hawaii to California routes as they shipped mainly food stocks to California.
  In 1853 the clipper Flying Cloud sailed from New York City and made San Francisco around Cape Horn in 89 days, 8 hours; a record that stood 136 years until 1989 when the breakthrough-designed sailboat Thursday's Child completed the passage in 80 days and 20 hours at the BOC Challenge 1986–87. The record was once again broken in 2008 by the special built French racing yacht Gitana 13, with a time of 43 days and 38 minutes.
caption: Hornet An advertisement of an American clipper ship of the 1850s
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