Waves of excitement for tired crew at sea
Thrills and spills of round-the-world race make impression on Chinese duo, who talk about their life on the high seas. Xie Chuanjiao reports
EXianghong is hungry by name and hungry by nature.
The 24-year-old, whose surname sounds the same as the Chinese word for hungry, has just completed a 50-day stint competing in the Clipper Round the World yacht race. And after battling hair-raising storms and coping with at times “uncivilised” conditions on board the Qingdao, E was particularly hungry to return home.
“It is great to be back. I felt emotional when I saw our boat moving on the GPS map and approaching the final destination ,” said E, who joined the Asia-Pacific leg of the race in Australia in late January before stopping over in Sanya and finishing in Qingdao on March 15.
“About 18 hours before the boat crossed the finish line I was too excited to fall asleep so I stayed up all night.”
The Asia-Pacific leg is considered one of the trickiest sections of the race to navigate.
During one particularly daunting seven-day period, winds of up to 40 knots battered the Qingdao, leaving one crew member badly injured after he fell from an upper sleeping berth.
“We could not have a normal life on board under such tough conditions. We could not have a good rest or even go to the toilet,” said E, a graduate of Qingdao University of Science and Technology who took up sailing about four years ago.
“Cultural and linguistic differences also caused communication problems.”
The Qingdao finished fifth in the race from Sanya to Qingdao, but by racking up bonus points at a scoring gate secured second spot in the overall standings.
“Of course we could have used a conservative strategy to finish in the top three, but then we could not have challenged in the overall rankings,” E said.
Liu Yulei, the boat’s other Chinese crew member, was just as euphoric about the journey as his compatriot.
“I want to see more of the world and have new experiences on the ocean,” said 23-year-old Liu, who received a month’s training in Britain before the race.
“Even having enough training and being well prepared, I still faced a lot of difficulties in the race, especially the unpredictable weather.”
Liu was in awe of the sense of camaraderie among the international crew, with members on duty six hours during the day and four hours at night.
“No matter what the difficulties and how tired they were, they were always totally dedicated.
“They tidily wore their uniform when starting duty and always ended the shift soaked to the skin.”
E and Liu were selected to race through the Qingdao Ambassador Programme, which has been running since the Clipper Race first partnered with the city of Qingdao in the event’s 2005-06 edition.
The programme aims to encourage more Chinese to take part in the sport.
Over the past 13 years the programme has produced promising new talent such as Guo Chuan and Vicky Song, who became the first Chinese woman to circumnavigate the globe when she completed the 2013-14 Clipper race.
It was the seventh time the race has included Qingdao as a host port, with the partnership secured until 2019-20.
However, it was the first time the race’s fleet had berthed at the newly constructed Wanda Yacht Club, a state-of-the-art facility in Qingdao West Coast.
“We hope that our ocean warriors will enjoy wonderful times in our city,” said Zang Aimin, vice-president of Qingdao Major International Sailing Events (Festivals) Organising Committee.