The Maria Asumpta was launched at Badalona in 1858, and was involved in the textile trade between Argentina and Spain; later she was used to transport slaves and salt. In the 1930s an engine was installed, and she was renamed Pepita. With the installation of the engine, her rigging was reduced, and in 1953 she was again renamed, this time Ciudad de Inca. By 1978, she was operating without masts in the Mediterranean. In 1980, her owners wanted to sell her engines and burn the ship. Mark Litchfield and Robin Cecil Wright, who had founded the China Clipper Society, bought the Ciudad de Inca for the value of her engines. Over the next 18 months, the ship was restored, and became a sail training ship in 1982.