A Canada-based Chinese coach, a sponsor, four crew members including two Chinese overseas students studying in a Canadian private school.
This unusual combination is China's first ever sailing team for men's keelboat - star in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Set up over the weekend, the team will work towards a simple mission over the next three years to represent China on home soil in 2008.
It will be the first time in history that Chinese sailors will compete in the Star Class, the Olympic history of which could date back to 1896 when the modern Olympic Movement started. Among the 11 events which comprise the Olympic sailing competition, Chinese athletes have participated in seven at earlier Games and the Star Class is one of the four areas that Chinese sailors are yet to explore.
"Our goal is to finish in top eight during the Beijing Games," said Wang Ying, coach of the team and a Chinese-Canadian who coached the Chinese national team for 15 years in the 1980s.
"This team has great potential and our athletes are fully devoted," he said. "They just lack experience in competing against the word's best sailors."
Thanks to the host advantage and negotiation with the International Olympic Committee, China can take part in the four Olympic sailing events women's keelboat - Yngling, Open double-handed dinghy - 49er, Open multihull - Tornado and men's keelboat - star, without qualification tournaments if it is able to put together teams for those events by 2008. Each of these four events will have 15 participating teams during the Beijing Games.
Huge cost and the sport's poor popularity in China has so far prevented the nation from developing talent for these events, not to mention competing in the Olympics.
"Each boat of Star Class costs more than US$150,000," said Wei Qi, director of the National Aquatic Sports Administrative Centre. "We have participated in the other seven events, but have a vacuum in these four events including star class."
Wei said that the Beijing Games are providing the nation with a great opportunity to develop its overall sports power, especially in unfamiliar areas like these.
"With the establishment of the Star Class sailing team, we filled a vacuum in China's sailing order," Wei claimed.
According to Wei, teams for the other three events, Yngling, 49er and Tornado will also be set up soon with cooperation from the government of Qingdao, host city for 2008's sailing competitions, Ocean University of China and the government of South China's coastal province of Hainan.
Given the country's scant experience in the event, foreign aid became essential with the Chinese camp reaching out to Wang who has also had coaching stints with the Singapore and Canadian national teams.
Besides, two high school students Tom Sun and Michael Xue, both studying in St. George's School in Vancouver were included in the team, to join veteran Luo Youjia and Chen Xueke, two sailors from Hainan who shifted from 470 class.
"They have a certain level of sailing ability as well as language skills and that's why they have been introduced into the team," Wang explain.
Before this, it has been rare for a Chinese national team to have foreign-based athletes.
"I delayed obtaining Canadian nationality so that I could join the Chinese team," said Sun, a 18-year-old who has two years of experience in sailing.
The team also found a sponsor Gaoyuan Group, a oil tapping facility company. The company has ploughed in 6 million yuan (about US$750,000) and the figure could go higher if the team performs well
Wei said setting up the team is not a one-time thing and hopes it will promote the sport's development in the future, especially after the Beijing Games.
China has had many sweet moments in world sailing competitions. Windsurfer Zhang Xiaodong and Yin Jian won silver medals for women's Mistral at 1992 Barcelona and 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Besides, its women windsurfers also won three world championship titles and the men's side won their first world title in 2002.
(China Daily November 29, 2005)
