Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Guo Chuan

#GuoChuan - Record-setting Chinese offshore skipper Guo Chuan has gone missing on a solo crossing of the Pacific, according to BBC News.

Guo Chuan had connections with Ireland as a crew-member on Irish-Chinese backed Green Dragon and became the first-ever Asian participant, with skipper Ian Walker in the 2008/09 Volvo Ocean Race

US Coast Guard teams now suspended their search in the waters off Hawaii where Guo’s boat was spotted abandoned shortly after his support team lost contact on Tuesday morning Irish time.

Guo’s yacht, the Qingdao China, was reportedly seen from a search plane with its main sail snapped off some 1,000km off Oahu.

Rescuers boarding the boat later found his lifejacket among his belongings.

The experienced sailor had been attempting to break the speed record for a solo Pacific crossing, which currently stands at 21 days.

A year ago, Irish offshore sailor Jarlath Cunnane was among the first to congratulate Guo on a record transit of the North East Passage with a team on board his 26.5m trimaran.

China’s best-known sailor previously sailed around the world in a 12m yacht in 2013.

* The USCG has suspended the search:

UPDATE: COAST GUARD SUSPENDS SEARCH FOR MISSING CHINESE TRANS-PACIFIC MARINER
HONOLULU — The Coast Guard suspended the active search Wednesday evening for a Chinese mariner who was unreported while sailing his 97-foot super trimaran across the Pacific.

Guo Chuan, 50, remains missing.

"Mr. Chuan was a professional mariner with a deep passion for sailing," said Capt. Robert Hendrickson, chief of response, Coast Guard 14th District. "Our thanks to our Navy partners who helped us search for this vessel in a timely manner so far from shore in an attempt to locate Mr. Chuan. Our deepest condolences go out not only to his family and friends but also to his racing team and the sailing community."

Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules crews conducted six search patterns in the vicinity of the Quindao China and its charted course following notification of the situation Tuesday and into Wednesday. The USS Makin Island deployed an MH-60 Seahawk helicopter Wednesday once they were in range to attempt contact with Chuan. Their hails over the radio went unanswered and weather conditions prevented safe deployment of a rescue swimmer to the vessel. They followed up by deploying a rigid-hulled inflatable boat and crew to conduct a boarding of the trimaran Wednesday afternoon. The boatcrew confirmed Chuan was not on the vessel although his life jacket remains aboard.

Weather on scene was reportedly 23 mph winds, seas to 5-feet with good visibility and scattered clouds.

On-scene assets searched a total area of more than 4,600 square miles over the two-day period.

Involved in the search were:
- HC-130 Hercules airplane crews from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point
- USS Makin Island (LHD 8) homeported out of San Diego
- Navy MH-60 Seahawk helicopter crew attached to the USS Makin Island

The Quindao China remains adrift, the mainsail has been doused and the vessel has been marked. A broadcast notice to mariners alerting vessel crews in the area to the potential hazard to navigation has been issued. Chuan’s racing team is making arrangements to recover the vessel.

Tuesday morning, watchstanders at the Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu received notification from Maritime Rescue Coordination Center China personnel that the vessel Qingdao China, with one person aboard, had not been heard from for 24 hours prompting the response.
The Makin Island is an amphibious assault ship attached to the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group and 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit that departed Naval Station San Diego for a scheduled deployment, Oct. 14, to provide maritime security operations, crisis response capability, theater security cooperation and forward naval presence in the Pacific.

Published in Offshore

Guo Chuan and his trimaran Qingdao China arrived back in his hometown of Qingdao last week. After 25 days of sailing on the sea since the departure from Murmansk, local media and fans waited for Qingdao China’s arrival early in the morning on September 27. Guo climbed to the top of the mast, lit fireworks while waving to fans cheering for him from dinghies and on land.

Amid crowds of people and media, Guo and his five elite crew, Jochen Krauth (France), Sergei Nizovtsev (Russia), Boris Herrmann (Germany), Quentin Monegier (France) and Tim Bastian Frank (Germany, media crew) took the stage.

Departing from Murmansk on September 3, Qingdao China crossed the start line at 13.41 UTC and started the attempt to challenge the first non-stop sailing world record across the Arctic Ocean's Northeast Passage. It took her only 13 days to complete the 3240nm voyage and set a new world record before crossing the finish line on the Bering Strait at 16h45 UTC September 15.

When Guo Chuan and his crew arrived at Qingdao, they received the warmest welcome from local people. Red carpet under foot, garlands around their necks, and a traditional Chinese celebration team beating gongs and sounding drums next to the stage, they were hailed by the city of Qingdao as heroes.

Published in Offshore

Irish offshore sailor Jarlath Cunnane, the first Irish skipper to transit the northeast passage with Northabout in 2003-2004, has been among the first to congratulate Guo Chuan on his world record in transiting the treacherous 3240nm passage.

“This is a great and fantastic achievement. But it also shows how much the ice is retreating. Guo Chuan and his team were sailing in a mostly ice free waters in areas where – just eleven years ago - we were up against ice which was 5 metres thick”, Cunnane told Afloat.ie

After 13 days of racing on the the North East Passage, Qingdao China, led by Chinese skipper Guo Chuan, finally crossed the finish line on the Bering Strait at 16.48 UTC September 15, 2015. Skipper Guo Chuan and his five crew from Germany, France, and Russia completed the journey. For the very first time in history, a racing trimaran sailed non-stop successfully through the Arctic Ocean Northeast Passage from Murmansk to Bering Straits.

Departing from Murmansk around noon on September 3, Qingdao China crossed the start line at 13.41 UTC and started the attempt to challenge the first non-stop sailing world record across the Arctic Ocean’s North East Passage. The start of the voyage was treacherous as strong winds were expected for the first 3 days.

Because of the weather, Guo Chuan decided to pilot the trimaran to a more southerly route into the Kara Sea. After sailing among growlers and icebergs across the Laptev Sea, the crew experienced the extreme cold and big gusts on the East Siberia Sea. Sunshine welcomed them on the Chukchi Sea and after that, it took them only over a day to reach the finish line between the Cape Dezhnev and the Big Diomede Island on the Bering Strait.

As soon as they crossed the finish line, the crew jumped for joy and pride. For celebration, they prepared a special ceremony. German crew Boris took out a white board and Guo Chuan wrote the historic moment onto it, “Arctic Ocean, Northeast passage, World Record, 15 September, 2015.”

chuan finish

The Chinese skipper was so excited that he could not hold back his emotions. “I’m so on the top of the world. It’s such an unbelievable moment. Even two months ago, I wouldn’t have imagined I could have a moment like this. It is a moment that could only happen in a dream,” he exclaimed.

Looking back the 13 day voyage, Guo said, “I feel very proud of myself and my crew. It is a challenging and tough journey, especially as we were surrounded by ice and gusts under the extreme cold weather. The boat was bumping like roller-coaster sometimes and seemed totally out of control. For several times, when we were in a very difficult situation, I wondered if we could continue. But thanks to our determination and brave and excellent crew, we overcame the difficult times together and finally made it.”

As a Chinese skipper leading five international crew, Guo said it was not only a special experience for him as a leader but also carried the symbolic significance of “peace and sport”. “This is an international team, our crew are from China, France, Germany, and Russia. Obviously we come from different cultures, but we still work together and made a great voyage successful. As the only Chinese champion for ‘Peace and Sport’, I want to spread the peace message to more people. Now in the world, there are still nations at war, but we want to show that people from diverse backgrounds can do things together,” Chuan said.

chuan peace

Guo Chuan received the congratulations from “Peace and Sport” the moment after crossing the finish line. “No matter the difficulty of the journey through the wind and ice, you and your crew faced it all, showing commitment to your objectives, your passion and the core values of sport. It is a true example for the world and I am very proud to count you among Peace and Sport’s Champions for Peace.”, JoelBouzou, chairman of Peace and Sport wrote in the congratulations letter to GuoChuan.

This is another exceptional achievement for Guo Chuan, who is the iconic face of Chinese offshore sailing. Lingling Liu, Managing Director of Guo Chuan Racing, has been receiving congratulations from the world’s sailing community. “This is a project led by a Chinese skipper and managed by Chinese professional, and supported by experts from all over the world. We are so proud that we made it!” Liu said.

Weather expert Christian Dumard said, “It was like the first race around the world or the first person to climb to the top of the Everest.”

Yves Le Blévec, skipper of the Ultime trimaran, Actual said, “I’m watching Guo Chuan’s challenge closely. Making your way through such an extreme zone on this size of trimaran is clearly a huge challenge. Guo Chuan and his crew did a great job. ”

Kito de Pavant, skipper of the 60-footIMOCA Bastide Otio and an expert in multihull racing said, “This is a very interesting course and the challenge is bound to be tricky. But Guo Chuan is sailing perfectly reasonably. His performance is opening up new routes. Other sailors may well want to follow in his footsteps. We can even imagine that one day races will pass through there. It’s something we need to keep an eye on.”

Benoit Cabaret, designer of the Qingdao China trimaran (former IDEC) said: “As the boat’s designer, I was surprised to learn that an Ultime trimaran was going to attempt this tricky passage. New challenges are not that common today, which makes Guo Chuan and his crew’s accomplishment all the more remarkable.”

The Arctic Ocean Northeast passage non-stop sailing world record is the second world record Guo Chuan has achieved. In2013, he set the world record of solo non-stop circumnavigation in a Class 40 monohull. And maybe he has made one more.

At 14h00 UTC 8 September, Qingdao China touched the northernmost water that no other unpowered racing boat had ever reached in the past. She sailed at 78°33’25 North, only 1271 km (686 miles) from the North Pole. It is the first time that a racing boat has sailed so far north.

During the whole voyage, Qingdao China reached maximum instant speed of 37 knots on September 4, and covered 466 miles during one 24 hour stretch during the Arctic Ocean World Record Challenge between the 4th September at 11h04 and the 5th September at 11h04 with an average speed 19.43 knots.

The result of Qingdao China’s voyage will be delivered to WSSRC for validation and the world record announcement will be officially confirmed at a later date.

A weekly video series was produced by award-winning director Stewart Binns to follow along. Here is the series timeline:

August 18: Departure footage from Brittany, France
August 25: Arrival into Kirkenes, Norway
August 31: The Challenge Awaits: Arrival into Murmansk
September 4: Departure from Murmansk, Russia
September 10: Arctic Ocean halfway update
September 17/18: Northeast Passage finish

 

 

 

Published in Offshore

After some slow-going over the weekend and yesterday, Guo Chuan and his crew of five on board Qingdao China have less than a day (24 hours) of sailing remaining -- just 300 miles to the finish in the Bering Strait estimated for late afternoon UTC today. There is a tracker of progress here.

Published in Offshore

After eight days sailing on the treacherous waters of the Arctic Ocean, skipper Guo Chuan has less than 1000nm remaining onboard his 97-foot trimaran Qingdao China in order to set the World Record for a non-stop sail of the Northeast Passage from Europe to the Pacific via the Bering Strait.

Global media coverage has started to pick up on the impressive challenge undertaken by Guo and his international crew of four sailors and one media crew member from France, Germany and Russia.

German news stories have been extensive with some of the country’s largest national papers including Die Welt, Tagesspiegel and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung highlighting the drama of the Arctic Ocean World Record Challenge and the adventure of the team’s German sailor Boris Herrmann. France's L'Equipe newspaper has been following along.

Lingling Liu, Managing Director of Guo Chuan Racing has been receiving dozens of media inquiries from around the world. "Before that, all the French thought Guo was crazy. Guo is really doing something exceptional. Everybody thought it was impossible and suddenly people realize that it is possible and that somebody is doing it.”

Weather expert Christian Dumard of France added: “It was like the first race around the world or the first person to climb at the top of the Everest.”

Departing from Murmansk around noon on September 3, Qingdao China crossed the start line at 13.41 UTC and started the attempt to set the first non-stop sailing world record across the Arctic Ocean’s Northeast Passage.

With strong winds during the first three days, Guo Chuan decided to pilot the trimaran to a more southerly route then originally planned. Qingdao China reached maximum speed of 37 knots on September 4, and covered 466 miles during one 24-hour stretch of the Arctic Ocean World Record Challenge between September 4 at 11h04 and September 5 at 11h04 with an average speed of 19.43 knots.

Guo and his crew have become accustomed to seeing icebergs, especially when they sailed above the 75 degrees north latitude. They remain very careful and vigilant about this danger.

Benoit Cabaret, designer of the boat has been following Guo’s journey closely, “I am very happy to see that they went through the most difficult part of the course without any problem.”

And Guo Chuan is philosophical about the scene he has witnessed: "In view of
sailing, I do not want to see any Arctic ice as it would be dangerous for the fragile hull. However, it is really sad to see such disappearance of icebergs caused by global warming. Though it makes the route navigable, I would like to see more ice deep in my heart."

Qingdao China has now sailed through the Laptev Sea and will soon enter the East Siberian Sea and the Chukchi Sea, she will head south until reaching the finish line at Bering Strait.

Weather expert Dumard added that from the most recent weather forecast analysis, Qingdao China is expected to complete the voyage on September 14.

A world record is waiting!

Published in Offshore
Tagged under
Guo Chuan and his international crew of four sailors and one media crew, have reached the halfway point of their Arctic Ocean World Record Challenge, six days after departing from Murmansk, Russia and headed for the Bering Strait via the Northeast Passage.The team has already set one record.
According to the team’s weather expert Frenchmen Christian Dumard, it is the first time ever that a racing boat has sailed so far north. The 97-foot trimaran "Qingdao China" reached 78°33’25 North on Tuesday afternoon, just 1271 km (790 miles) from the North Pole, and the most northerly point of their journey.
As Afloat reported earlier, The crew plans to sail the entire Northeast Passage non-stop from Murmansk to the Bering Strait between Alaska (U.S.A) and Russia, the quickest route from Europe to the Pacific, expecting to set the first non-stop sailing world record for the Northeast Passage in the process. The voyage is about 3300 nautical miles and expected to be completed within two weeks around September 14. To celebrate reaching the halfway point, the crew enjoyed some Chinese moon cakes and a little Russian Vodka.Along with skipper Guo Chuan, Qingdao China’s crew includes Frenchmen Jochen Krauth (Baie de Quiberon) and Quentin Monegier (La Trinité-sur-Mer), Germans Boris Herrmann (Kiel) and media crew Tim Bastian Frank (Hamburg), and Sergei Nizovtsev from Russia.
Monegier has also been celebrating the birth of a baby son Lucien, on the day of the departure. He has received baby photos to his phone via Inmarsat satellite.
Published in Offshore

Ireland's Offshore Renewable Energy

Because of Ireland's location at the Atlantic edge of the EU, it has more offshore energy potential than most other countries in Europe. The conditions are suitable for the development of the full range of current offshore renewable energy technologies.

Offshore Renewable Energy FAQs

Offshore renewable energy draws on the natural energy provided by wind, wave and tide to convert it into electricity for industry and domestic consumption.

Offshore wind is the most advanced technology, using fixed wind turbines in coastal areas, while floating wind is a developing technology more suited to deeper water. In 2018, offshore wind provided a tiny fraction of global electricity supply, but it is set to expand strongly in the coming decades into a USD 1 trillion business, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). It says that turbines are growing in size and in power capacity, which in turn is "delivering major performance and cost improvements for offshore wind farms".

The global offshore wind market grew nearly 30% per year between 2010 and 2018, according to the IEA, due to rapid technology improvements, It calculated that about 150 new offshore wind projects are in active development around the world. Europe in particular has fostered the technology's development, led by Britain, Germany and Denmark, but China added more capacity than any other country in 2018.

A report for the Irish Wind Energy Assocation (IWEA) by the Carbon Trust – a British government-backed limited company established to accelerate Britain's move to a low carbon economy - says there are currently 14 fixed-bottom wind energy projects, four floating wind projects and one project that has yet to choose a technology at some stage of development in Irish waters. Some of these projects are aiming to build before 2030 to contribute to the 5GW target set by the Irish government, and others are expected to build after 2030. These projects have to secure planning permission, obtain a grid connection and also be successful in a competitive auction in the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS).

The electricity generated by each turbine is collected by an offshore electricity substation located within the wind farm. Seabed cables connect the offshore substation to an onshore substation on the coast. These cables transport the electricity to land from where it will be used to power homes, farms and businesses around Ireland. The offshore developer works with EirGrid, which operates the national grid, to identify how best to do this and where exactly on the grid the project should connect.

The new Marine Planning and Development Management Bill will create a new streamlined system for planning permission for activity or infrastructure in Irish waters or on the seabed, including offshore wind farms. It is due to be published before the end of 2020 and enacted in 2021.

There are a number of companies aiming to develop offshore wind energy off the Irish coast and some of the larger ones would be ESB, SSE Renewables, Energia, Statkraft and RWE.

There are a number of companies aiming to develop offshore wind energy off the Irish coast and some of the larger ones would be ESB, SSE Renewables, Energia, Statkraft and RWE. Is there scope for community involvement in offshore wind? The IWEA says that from the early stages of a project, the wind farm developer "should be engaging with the local community to inform them about the project, answer their questions and listen to their concerns". It says this provides the community with "the opportunity to work with the developer to help shape the final layout and design of the project". Listening to fishing industry concerns, and how fishermen may be affected by survey works, construction and eventual operation of a project is "of particular concern to developers", the IWEA says. It says there will also be a community benefit fund put in place for each project. It says the final details of this will be addressed in the design of the RESS (see below) for offshore wind but it has the potential to be "tens of millions of euro over the 15 years of the RESS contract". The Government is also considering the possibility that communities will be enabled to invest in offshore wind farms though there is "no clarity yet on how this would work", the IWEA says.

Based on current plans, it would amount to around 12 GW of offshore wind energy. However, the IWEA points out that is unlikely that all of the projects planned will be completed. The industry says there is even more significant potential for floating offshore wind off Ireland's west coast and the Programme for Government contains a commitment to develop a long-term plan for at least 30 GW of floating offshore wind in our deeper waters.

There are many different models of turbines. The larger a turbine, the more efficient it is in producing electricity at a good price. In choosing a turbine model the developer will be conscious of this ,but also has to be aware the impact of the turbine on the environment, marine life, biodiversity and visual impact. As a broad rule an offshore wind turbine will have a tip-height of between 165m and 215m tall. However, turbine technology is evolving at a rapid rate with larger more efficient turbines anticipated on the market in the coming years.

 

The Renewable Electricity Support Scheme is designed to support the development of renewable energy projects in Ireland. Under the scheme wind farms and solar farms compete against each other in an auction with the projects which offer power at the lowest price awarded contracts. These contracts provide them with a guaranteed price for their power for 15 years. If they obtain a better price for their electricity on the wholesale market they must return the difference to the consumer.

Yes. The first auction for offshore renewable energy projects is expected to take place in late 2021.

Cost is one difference, and technology is another. Floating wind farm technology is relatively new, but allows use of deeper water. Ireland's 50-metre contour line is the limit for traditional bottom-fixed wind farms, and it is also very close to population centres, which makes visibility of large turbines an issue - hence the attraction of floating structures Do offshore wind farms pose a navigational hazard to shipping? Inshore fishermen do have valid concerns. One of the first steps in identifying a site as a potential location for an offshore wind farm is to identify and assess the level of existing marine activity in the area and this particularly includes shipping. The National Marine Planning Framework aims to create, for the first time, a plan to balance the various kinds of offshore activity with the protection of the Irish marine environment. This is expected to be published before the end of 2020, and will set out clearly where is suitable for offshore renewable energy development and where it is not - due, for example, to shipping movements and safe navigation.

YEnvironmental organisations are concerned about the impact of turbines on bird populations, particularly migrating birds. A Danish scientific study published in 2019 found evidence that larger birds were tending to avoid turbine blades, but said it didn't have sufficient evidence for smaller birds – and cautioned that the cumulative effect of farms could still have an impact on bird movements. A full environmental impact assessment has to be carried out before a developer can apply for planning permission to develop an offshore wind farm. This would include desk-based studies as well as extensive surveys of the population and movements of birds and marine mammals, as well as fish and seabed habitats. If a potential environmental impact is identified the developer must, as part of the planning application, show how the project will be designed in such a way as to avoid the impact or to mitigate against it.

A typical 500 MW offshore wind farm would require an operations and maintenance base which would be on the nearby coast. Such a project would generally create between 80-100 fulltime jobs, according to the IWEA. There would also be a substantial increase to in-direct employment and associated socio-economic benefit to the surrounding area where the operation and maintenance hub is located.

The recent Carbon Trust report for the IWEA, entitled Harnessing our potential, identified significant skills shortages for offshore wind in Ireland across the areas of engineering financial services and logistics. The IWEA says that as Ireland is a relatively new entrant to the offshore wind market, there are "opportunities to develop and implement strategies to address the skills shortages for delivering offshore wind and for Ireland to be a net exporter of human capital and skills to the highly competitive global offshore wind supply chain". Offshore wind requires a diverse workforce with jobs in both transferable (for example from the oil and gas sector) and specialist disciplines across apprenticeships and higher education. IWEA have a training network called the Green Tech Skillnet that facilitates training and networking opportunities in the renewable energy sector.

It is expected that developing the 3.5 GW of offshore wind energy identified in the Government's Climate Action Plan would create around 2,500 jobs in construction and development and around 700 permanent operations and maintenance jobs. The Programme for Government published in 2020 has an enhanced target of 5 GW of offshore wind which would create even more employment. The industry says that in the initial stages, the development of offshore wind energy would create employment in conducting environmental surveys, community engagement and development applications for planning. As a site moves to construction, people with backgrounds in various types of engineering, marine construction and marine transport would be recruited. Once the site is up and running , a project requires a team of turbine technicians, engineers and administrators to ensure the wind farm is fully and properly maintained, as well as crew for the crew transfer vessels transporting workers from shore to the turbines.

The IEA says that today's offshore wind market "doesn't even come close to tapping the full potential – with high-quality resources available in most major markets". It estimates that offshore wind has the potential to generate more than 420 000 Terawatt hours per year (TWh/yr) worldwide – as in more than 18 times the current global electricity demand. One Terawatt is 114 megawatts, and to put it in context, Scotland it has a population a little over 5 million and requires 25 TWh/yr of electrical energy.

Not as advanced as wind, with anchoring a big challenge – given that the most effective wave energy has to be in the most energetic locations, such as the Irish west coast. Britain, Ireland and Portugal are regarded as most advanced in developing wave energy technology. The prize is significant, the industry says, as there are forecasts that varying between 4000TWh/yr to 29500TWh/yr. Europe consumes around 3000TWh/year.

The industry has two main umbrella organisations – the Irish Wind Energy Association, which represents both onshore and offshore wind, and the Marine Renewables Industry Association, which focuses on all types of renewable in the marine environment.

©Afloat 2020