Chinese skipper Guo Chuan celebrates onboard the Qingdao China after finishing a nonstop voyage through the Arctic Ocean. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)
Chinese skipper Guo Chuan, sailing on the trimaran named Qingdao China with an international crew, completed a nonstop voyage through the Arctic Ocean on Wednesday morning, setting a world record for the fastest across-the-Arctic navigation.
Qingdao China, which set sail on Sept 3 from Russian port city Murmansk, successfully passed the finish line on the Bering Strait on early morning of Wednesday after a 13-day, over 3,240 nautical-mile (6,000km)voyage through the Northeast Passage of the Arctic.
It is the first time in history that a racing trimaran completed a nonstop Arctic sail along a route which is shorter than the current shipping line but had never been conquered by civilian and commercial vessels in just 13 days.
Led by Guo, the five-men international crew onboard were Jochen Krauth and Quentin Monegier from France, Boris Herrmann and Tim Frank (media crew) from Germany and Sergei Nizovtsev from Russia.
It's the second major record set by Guo, an enthusiastic Chinese navigator who became the first man worldwide to finish a 138-day solo nonstop circumnavigation on a class-40 boat in April 2013.
After achieving the feat, Guo and his crew members were so excited that they could not hold back their emotions.
All of them jumped in the air with joy and felt proud when the boat crossed the finish line. To celebrate the accomplishment, German crew Herrmann took out a white board and Guo wrote the historic line onto it, "Arctic Ocean, Northeast passage, World Record, 15 September, 2015."
"I'm so on the top of the world. It's such an unbelievable moment. Even two months ago, I wouldn't have imagined I could have a moment like this. It is a moment that could only happen in a dream," said Guo, a 50-year-old Qingdao native.
However, the start of the voyage was treacherous as strong wind blew heavily in the first three days so Guo decided to pilot the trimaran to a more southerly route into the Kara Sea.
After sailing among growlers and icebergs across the Laptev Sea, the crew experienced the extreme coldness and gust on the East Siberia Sea. Sunshine welcomed them on the Chukchi Sea and it took them only over a day to reach the finish line between the Cape Dezhnev and the Big Diomede Island on the Bering Strait.
Looking back at the 13 days' voyage, Guo said, "I feel very proud of myself and my crew. It is a challenging and tough journey especially we were surrounded by ice and gusts under the extreme cold weather.
"The boat was bumping like roller-coaster sometimes and seemed totally out of control. For several times, when we were in a very difficult situation, I suspected whether we could go further. But thanks to our determination and all brave and excellent crew, we overcome the difficult time together and finally made it."
The result of Qingdao China's voyage will be delivered to World Sailing Speed Record Council for validation and the world record announcement will be officially confirmed later.
