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Spirit of Australia crew member in the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race
Updated: 2010-03-02 15:42
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Today the amateur crews of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race set sail from Qingdao, headed across the Pacific to San Francisco，a perilous five-week voyage.
The intrepid men and women on board the nine 20-meter yachts can expect freezing and frightening conditions on the next leg of their adventure. But their 10-day stopover here was spectacular.
On our journey from Singapore aboard the “Spirit of Australia, we spent time learning some basic Chinese phrases with which to great our hosts. But we were speechless by the astounding greeting we received on arrival.
There were huge crowds, fireworks, drummers, dragon dancers, hoards of journalists and more photographers than you get on the red carpet for the Oscars.
People handed crew members their babies to kiss, fought for autographs and fell over themselves to have their picture taken with one of the “brave Clipper warriors”.
As race leaders and the first boat in, a day before the rest of the fleet, "Spirit of Australia” had that amazing welcome all to ourselves. It was repeated again and again for the rest of the fleet.
While the winter Olympics has been taking place in Vancouver, Canada, every one of the Clipper crew has been treated like an Olympic superstar.
Huge crowds have continued to mill around the sailing village as the boats are repaired and prepared for the arduous 5,680-mile passage to the United States.
This is the third time that the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race– the brainchild of legendary yachtsman Sir Robin Knox Johnston - has visited Qingdao. Local families threw open the doors of their homes to Clipper crews to allow them a once-in-a-lifetime look at Chinese home life.
On Sunday, I was sat in the apartment of Jin Gang and his family in the Hushan Huayuan Licang District of the city, making yuanxiao– sweet dumplings–and singing Rod Stewart’s “Sailing” to celebrate the Lantern Festival.
Having left the UK last July, the fleet has battled its way through storms and monster waves to Brazil, South Africa, Australia and Singapore before reaching the mid-point of the race in China– some 18,000 miles from Clipper’s home.
The race is the only round-the-world event for novice sailors and finishes back in Hull in the UK on July 17 via Panama, Jamaica, New York, Canada’s Cape Breton Island and Cork in Ireland.
By Andy Rose
Editor: Li Jing
