Reading Practice
The Clipper Races: an era of competition between cargo
ships
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the British East India Company had the
monopoly on trade with China and India. This meant that because no rival could legally
import tea or other goods from these countries at this time, the company was rarely in a
hurry to transport its merchandise. Instead, its priority was to minimise costs by carrying as
much as possible on each ship. This meant that its ships - known as East Indiamen - were
enormous, strong and very slow.
By 1800, the average East Indiaman could carry 1,200 tons of merchandise. The trading
pattern for China tea usually meant the East Indiamen set sail from Britain in January,
sailed round the Cape of Good Hope at the southernmost tip of Africa, and arrived in China
in September. There they would load up that year's tea harvest, set off again and,
depending on the wind and weather, aim to arrive back by the following September. So
even with favourable sailing conditions, the round trip lasted almost two years, and if
anything went wrong it could take a lot longer.
However, by 1834 the company had lost its trading monopolies, and tea had become a
freely traded item. Having no more use for its great ships, the company sold them off, and
many were bought by merchants or their captains, who continued to plough the seas
between Britain and China. But now that tea could be traded freely, a few smart sailors
began to realise that whoever brought each new harvest of tea to Britain first, stood to
make the most money.
This was partly because if you were home first, you could sell your shipment of tea before
your competitors even arrived, and partly because consumers in Britain in the nineteenth
century believed that the fresher and earlier-picked the tea, the better the resulting drink.
Tea traders now needed faster, sleeker ships to bring their precious cargo back.
Nevertheless, in Britain this idea only caught on slowly, and white the 1840s saw a few
faster ships launched, for the time being many merchants remained satisfied with the slow
but reliable East Indiamen.
In fact it was the Americans who pioneered the first clipper ships. These vessels were fast
and slender, with a narrow hull that was deeper at the back than at the front and masses of
sails on tall masts. They earned their name from the way that they clipped off journey times
British merchants resolved to build their own clippers to rival the Americans and the first
British tea clipper, Stornaway, was built in Aberdeen in 1850 More tea clippers were
designed and built in Britain throughout the 1850s and 1860s, they had a narrower beam
than their American equivalents, making them less powerful during storms, but faster in
calmer weather.
There was a great spirit of competition between the British and American ships plying the
tea trade, but to begin with the Americans had the edge. Then in 1851 a British ship owner,
Richard Green, built the aptly named clipper Challenger, with the stated intention of beating
the American ships. Loaded with tea, Challenger left China for London in 1852 at the same
time as the American clipper Challenge, a much larger, older ship, already greatly admired
for its speed. Large sums were bet on which would complete the journey first. In the event,
the British ship beat its rival to London by two days, amid much jubilation. From then on,
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such international races grew in popularity.
After 1855, American participation in the British tea trade gradually stopped. But even
without the Anglo-American rivalry, the competitive spirit continued. It was really ignited
when new ports were opened up for trade in China. These included Fouchow, which was
much closer to the tea-producing areas than Canton, the port used previously. As a result,
tea could be loaded onboard earlier and fresher, and the clippers could set off in late May
or early June - sometimes not even taking time to fill out the official paperwork - racing
back to Britain whatever the difficulties.
They sped down through the South China Sea and into the Indian Ocean, then raced to get
round the southernmost tip of Africa at the Cape of Good Hope. Then it was north across
the vast Atlantic, past the Azores, through the English Channel and into the estuary of the
River Thames. Once there, they would be towed by tugs, up the river and into the docks.
The cargo of the winning ship could earn a premium of up to sixpence per pound-and so
the captain and crew were rewarded by the owners of the cargo. But the races were about
more than just money the crews, about 40 men on each clipper, were expert sailors, proud
of their ships, and they delighted in competing against each other. Without their
enthusiasm, the races would never have happened, since getting the ship home as fast as
possible required the crew to be totally dedicated and to sacrifice much of their rest for the
duration of the race.
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Questions 1 - 6
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In
boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1..................... In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the British East India Company
faced a lot of competition.
2..................... Before 1800, cargo size was the most important consideration for the East
India Company.
3..................... At best, voyages of the East Indiamen to China and back took nearly two
years to complete.
4..................... Before 1834, voyages to and from China were considered to be highly
dangerous.
5..................... After 1834, the ships which had served the East India Company stopped
being used for commercial purposes.
6..................... In the nineteenth century, British drinkers preferred tea made from mature
leaves to that made from younger leaves.
Questions 7-13
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONL Y from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet.
Clipper races
The ships
Clipper ships were first used for trading by American merchants.
The ships were remarkable for the number of 7..................... they had.
The performance of British tea clippers was particularly affected when there were
8..................... at sea.
The races
It was in a ship called 9..................... that the British first competed successfully against
the Americans.
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Richard Green’s ship arrived two days ahead of its competitor.
Competition increased when additional Chinese trading 10..................... were established.
Merchants were occasionally in such a hurry that they failed to complete the
11..................... before leaving China.
At the end of their journey, the ships needed the help of 12.....................
The rewards
The crews were motivated by both 13..................... and their enthusiasm for the
competition.
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Solution:
1. FALSE 8. storms
2. TRUE 9. Challenger
3. TRUE 10. ports
4. NOT GIVEN 11. paperwork
5. FALSE 12. tugs
6. FALSE 13. money
7. sails
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