The Golden Age of Sail is generally agreed to be the period in the 19th century when the efficiency and use of commercial sailing vessels was at its peak (clippers, tall ships, etc.) and immediately before steamboats started to take trade away from sail. Some would say that the Golden Age of Sail relates specifically to the clipper ship era, while others put the Golden Age of Sail between 1850 and the early 1900s when sailing vessels reached their peak of size and complexity.[2]