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During the building of the first American clipper ship, the talk around the waterfront is that the "Rainbow" would sink or not being able to carry the cargo she should. Everyone was proven wrong. And, what was more, her great speed meant higher prices for the traders.
This set off a race for crews who could make the most of wind and tide, setting records of time and distance; and with the discovery of gold, the new crop of clipper ships became sleeker, swifter, and more rakish than every before---racing from New York around Cape Horn to California.
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