One of those hopefuls will become the only Chinese national to take part in the race, which stops in Ireland and China for the first time. The Green Dragon sponsors are a consortium of Chinese construction developers, and the Chinese crew member will guarantee the Green Dragon a massive audience in a country where sailing is a developing sport.
The Chinese trio, Jue Wang, Guo Chuan and Huang Jian joined the rest of the Green Dragon squad leaving Cork on an auspicious date in the Chinese calendar.
With the number 888 being particularly lucky in Chinese lore, with the word eight in Chinese sounding very similar to 'prosper' or 'wealth'. 08/08/08 was the departure date, so, and with IRL 888 being the Green Dragon's sail number, one hopes luck is truly on their side.
The boat rounded the Fastnet Rock, heading north to Rockall before heading north west further into the North Atlantic.Skipper Ian Walker penned the following missive from on board, near the half-way mark:
Day 4 (Location: 59 deg 33.32 N 19.3 deg 81 W)
. We have just gybed in 30 knots, about 180 miles south of Iceland which marks the half way point of our qualifier. Right now we are enjoying great ride in a 25 - 30 knot north-easterly. For the last hour we have averaged over 22 knots of boat speed, with a top speed of 30.3! knots. Guo & Huang have taken some excellent photos and video, but I think they are grateful they are not having to edit it on board on this trip."
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