The film opens in England in the court of
Queen Victoria. Lord Anthony Huntington, the country's foremost shipbuilder, is tasked with preventing the United States from breaking England's grip on the
tea trade. Huntington boasts that his new ship,
Lord of the Isles, will outsail any American ship. In America, the U.S. president meets with a Boston shipbuilder, Thomas Winslow, who vows that his new vessel will challenge England's vaunted speed. The builder introduces his son, Hal Winslow (
William Boyd), who will command the new
Yankee Clipper on its maiden voyage to China. The President tells the young captain that America's hope of prestige on the seas rests with him. Several days into the journey, a stowaway, a young boy named Mickey Murphy (
Junior Coughlan) is found hiding in a burlap sack. The boy is an orphan who announces his hatred of women. While in China, Winslow attends a dinner hosted by a wealthy Chinese merchant and rescues an English woman Lady Jocelyn Huntington (
Elinor Fair) from rioting beggars. Winslow agrees to a race from China to Boston against the
Lord of the Isles. He wins the race and the affection of Lady Jocelyn. ==Cast==