Volvo Ocean Race: Chinese team has entered

This is actually the second Chinese participation. In the last race, China co-sponsored the Irish team Green Dragon. This time it will be the other way round: The campaign is Chinese, Ireland is the secondary sponsor.

The skipper is New Zealander Mike Sanderson, who has won the race twice. However, he will not be the favourite at the start because, unlike the six other teams, his crew will not have a new boat under their feet. There is not enough time for that.

He replied to the news portal "Scuttlebutt" when asked which boat the team wanted to use: "I wish I could say. We look at every boat that sailed in the last race. We thought 'Ericsson 4' would be our target, but then we had to decide what our target was. One option was to buy the winner of the previous race and collect as many points as possible. Another was to get a boat that could put us on the podium in all conditions. We have a candidate and will announce it in about ten days."

The team, named Sanya, is backed by the Chinese Sailing Association and the city of the same name. It will also play host during a stopover and a new marina is being built especially for the event.

Although the campaign is aimed at image and tourism promotion, there will hardly be any Chinese on board. Sanderson only wants to include four men in his sailing team, and only two are expected to be on board during the stages.