Chinese sailor attempts trans-Pacific bid

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Shanghai Daily, October 20, 2016
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 File photo of Guo Chuan.

Chinese mariner Guo Chuan set sail on his trimaran from the US west coast city of San Francisco on Tuesday, embarking on a solo trans-Pacific voyage to Shanghai.

Guo, who aims to set a new solo non-stop trans-Pacific sailing world record, piloted his trimaran Qingdao China west across the start line under San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge in the afternoon.

He will sail across the Pacific Ocean — about 7,000 nautical miles — and hopes to complete it within 20 days.

The current trans-Pacific speed record is 21 days, set by crews on board the Italian Maserati. When he arrives in Shanghai, he will be the first to finish a solo non-stop trans-Pacific attempt from San Francisco to Shanghai.

"Most of the pressure will come from the weather," he said prior to his departure, adding that the wind could be both his companion and rival.

"You need to be focused and concentrate on all the manual work, making sure the boat is in good order. When the wind is strong, you may make some small mistakes and then they may become larger and larger. So that’s part of the things I need to be really careful about," he said.

Despite being alone during the journey, Guo said he was definitely not lonely as he had the powerful support from his team as well as his countrymen.

He said he was "psychologically 100 percent prepared" while "technologically he was 90 percent ready" to deal with such a big challenge.

Guo, who has been sailing for over 10 years, holds two world records. One is the solo non-stop circumnavigation world record set in 2013. The other is the Arctic Ocean Northeast Passage non-stop world record set in 2015.

"During solo circumnavigation, you spend more time in the sea, so you need to have more endurance and eat more rubbish food," he said. "But this solo trans-Pacific sailing in this boat is another challenge," he said. "It’s a mighty boat, really powerful. That means you need concentration every hour, every minute, every second."

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