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A clipper was a very fast sailing ship of the middle third of the 19th century. They were fast, yacht like vessels, with three masts and a square rig. They were generally narrow for their length, could carry limited bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and had a large total sail area. Clipper ships were mostly constructed in British and American shipyards, though France, Brazil, the Netherlands and other nations also produced some. Clippers sailed all over the world, primarily on the trade routes between the United Kingdom and its colonies in the east, in trans-Atlantic trade, and the New York-to-San Francisco route round Cape Horn during the California Gold Rush. Dutch clippers were built beginning in the 1850s for the tea trade and passenger service to Java. The boom years of the clipper ship era began in 1843 as a result of a growing demand for a more rapid delivery of tea from China. It continued under the stimulating influence of the discovery of gold in California and Australia in 1848 and 1851, and ended with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.〔 ==Origin and usage of "clipper"== The term "clipper" most likely derives from the verb "clip", which in former times meant, among other things, to run or fly swiftly. Dryden, the English poet, used the word "clip" to describe the swift flight of a falcon in the 17th century when he said "And, with her eagerness the quarry missed, Straight flies at check, and clips it down the wind." The ships appeared to clip along the ocean water. The term "clip" became synonymous with "speed" and was also applied to fast horses and sailing ships. "To clip it," and "going at a good clip," are familiar expressions to this day.〔 While the first application of the term "clipper" in a nautical sense is by no means certain, it seems to have had an American origin when applied to the Baltimore clippers of the late 18th century. When these vessels of a new model were built, which were intended to "clip" over the waves rather than plough through them, the improved type of craft became known as "clippers" because of their speed.〔 In England the nautical term "clipper" appeared a little later. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' says its earliest quotation for "clipper" is from 1830. This does not mean, however, that little British opium clippers from prior to 1830 were not called "opium clippers" just as they are today. Carl C. Cutler reports the first newspaper appearance was in 1835, and by then the term was apparently familiar. An undated painting of the British ''Water Witch'' built in 1831 is labeled ''OPIUM CLIPPER "WATER WITCH"'' so the term had at least passed into common usage during the time that this ship sailed. There is no single definition of the characteristics of a clipper ship, but mariner and author Alan Villiers describes them as follows: To sailors, three things made a ship a clipper. She must be sharp-lined, built for speed. She must be tall-sparred and carry the utmost spread of canvas. And she must ''use'' that sail, day and night, fair weather and foul.〔Villiers (1962), p. 216〕Optimized for speed, they were too fine-lined to carry much cargo.〔 Clippers typically carried extra sails such as skysails and moonrakers on the masts, and studdingsails on booms extending out from the hull or yards,〔Villiers (1962), frontispiece and p.220〕 which required extra hands to handle them.〔Villiers (1962), p. 216, 220〕 And in conditions where other ships would shorten sail, clippers drove on, heeling so much that their lee rails were in the water.〔Villiers (1962), pp. 217, 218〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「clipper」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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