To the captains of the great tea clippers sailing from China to England, only one thing mattered: to be first home. To some, like Captain 'Cracker Jack' Kernball of the Erl King, it mattered so much that they would lay bets against rival captains. Sailing from Shanghai in 1869, he races Captain Richards of the Seawatch to London. The wager is his daughter's hand in marriage. PB 272pp.