In the age of sail, the shipping routes followed the winds with outbound and returning routings taking best advantage of the prevalent wind directions for the hemispheres. With current sail technology, the routings are still similar. Meanwhile, diesel powered ships go anywhere they like, but something is lost in the process - in addition to the cleanliness of the air and the water.
16th Century Portuguese and Spanish Trade Routes
The clipper routes to New Zealand and Australia took advantage of the Southern Ocean which has no land masses to interrupt the fetch of the wind.
The Clipper Route using the "Roaring Forties"
This nifty animation captures the routings around the world during the age of sail.
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