The world's premier offshore competition, the Volvo Ocean Race, will kick off in Spain in October.
The world's premier offshore competition, the Volvo Ocean Race, will kick off in Spain in October. And their will be a Chinese squad involved -- as the Dongfeng race team is preparing for the event and their Captain Charles Caudrelier says they are ready to race.
The crew, including four sailors from China who have never sailed across an ocean before, is receiving intensive training to get ready for the Seven star Round Britain and Ireland Race starting on Sunday. They will then enter the Volvo Ocean Race in October. Seven identical VO65s will line up in the new-look round-the-world race.
The VO65s, painted red to symbolise China, had been fully checked and repaired to prepare for departure on Sunday. The crew flexed their muscles to get the best from the new boat.
"We are challenging ourselves every day, on physical strength or sailing. We have high standards and are trying to make the most of it, working on teamwork while training very hard in the limited amount of time," said sailor Chen Jinhao.
This team is a mix of rookie Chinese sailors and professional international sailors. In 10 months, the Chinese rookies have had to learn what their competitors have learnt in over 10 years or more. Language and cultural difference could be a challenge, but the crew seems very confident and is working in harmony with each other.
"There was big challenge in the beginning, as you know we have French, Swedish and Chinese sailors in the team. The communication and cultural differences were the problem. Along the way, we got to know each other better while training together. We feel like a team now, working towards the same goal," said sailor Yang Jiru.
The Dongfeng race team completed the qualification required by the race rules in Asia, a non-stop ocean passage of approximately 2,000 nautical miles. The Seven star Round Britain and Ireland Race will be another major step forward for the Chinese sailors in terms of offshore sailing. For the new team, teaching the Chinese sailors and developing their experience will be the first goal.
"We're ready to go racing in two or three days and I think we're prepared. For sure we are not the top team right now, but our goal, which will be the same for all the teams, is to learn. The best way to learn is through competition and this is the first one. In every race you learn a lot, and we will improve during each leg. We would like to win, but we also want to teach the Chinese sailors so they can become great sailors. That's our main objective," said captain Charles Caudrelier.
The Volvo Ocean Race of 2014-15 will begin in Alicante of Spain in October. It will last for nearly 9 months with 10 legs of competition over almost 39,000 nautical miles around the world. It will end in Gothenburg, Sweden in June 2015.
