Back in the days of the East India Company's monopoly there had been stories of merchantmen furling their sails and stopping every night; but the stories of the clipper age told of captains eager for swift progress putting padlocks on the sheets before going to bed, to prevent the mate on the night watch reducing the sail area without permission.
比起東印度公司獨佔時代，商船夜夜收帆停擺的傳說；現在的故事版本是：某些船長在心急欲飛的回程中，每晚下艙就寢前會先鎖上帆腳索，以免守夜的副手偷偷減帆。