Prelude:After joining in Leg 3 from Cape Town, South Africa to Albany, Australia, Clipper Round the World 2015-16, the writer wrote series of column articles for a Chinese magazine,Global Children Sailingto introduce stories about Clipper sailors.This year, with the awarding of Clipper 2019-20 Race Winner by Qingdao team, all the Chinese Clipper crew are proud that more people are getting increasingly curious about the sport and the crew.Thus, Season Two ofStories of OrdinaryPeople Sailing Around the Worldis launching with both Chinese and English to help more people understand the stories behind.Why the ocean is so attractive?What is the difference between you and them?Will you be one of them to challenge yourself and embrace the ocean as well?You are welcome to get to know them, to know sailing and to love the ocean.
Xue ZENG was born in the mountain areas of an inland city, Yibing, Sichuan Province. She was brought up by her grandfather in the rurual country side, together with her cousin while her own parents worked in the city. Little Echo, at that time, could not imagine that she could live her life bysea when she grows up, neither to understand that there exists a thing named sailing which gave her opportunities to experience many first times.The only possible connection is that she gave herself an English name Echo when she started to study English, hopingthat she could travel to a lot of places like the writer, Echo.
The first time to UK for the sailor training, the first time to USA for cross-ocean sailing race, the first time to Australia to see the famous Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, the first time to Spain for the exciting moments of racing over 300 Olympic sailing boats, the first time to lead a team for overseas racing as the manager of a professional sailing team, the first time to work as a translator for China National Sailing and Windsurfing Team, the first time to Greece as a student in the International Olympics College, the first time to Poland as a volunteer for the European Games, the first time to Hangzhou as a staff of the Asian Games…
图片:2015年6月,英国培训期间,很冷 Photo: Cold @ UK Training, 06/2015
帆船,是何方神圣?可以托举一个内陆山区留守儿童一天天成长为国际帆船人?
What is sailing? How could sailing support a left-over child in inland mountain area to grow up as an international sailing member?
In the year of 2013, Echo started to work in Shenzhen with encouragement from classmates the next year after her graduation.The previously non-existed blue ocean attracted her.Never heard about sailing before, she had her first experience with sailing in one sunny Spring day.That day, the sun was warm and the wind was blowing nicely on thefaces and on the sails.She could not tell whether it was because of the sound of water moving on the sea, because of the warm blew up to face by the wind, or because the freedom feeling when getting through the wind and waves, she only knew that she fell in love with sailing.
That whole summer, she went across the whole city with friends over the weekend to try to learn sailing.Even though she did not earn much and could not afford professional sailing gear, she was very happy as long as she could sail in the ocean.
The good thing is sailing hadjust introduced to China at that time, so almost all the sailing clubs in Shenzhen used all sorts of promotions to encourage people learning sailing.Very luckily, Echo and her friends won a prize in the sailing photograph competition, which enabled them with eight free trainings.The more they got training, the more they loved sailing; and the more they practiced, the more they wanted to try.Then they enrolled for the Shenzhen Dapeng Cup Regatta, which was a vivid illustration of the famous self-mockery saying by sailors that they were poisoned by the blue drug.
At the end of 2014, some sailor friends mentioned that the Qingdao team of Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 2015-16 was recruiting ambassador crew all over the world.The winner can get free training and join in the cross-ocean race.Echo was already fascinated by sailing at that time and immediately thought this was the opportunity she could not miss.Checking carefully with the selection criteria, she felt confident with English, physical health, seasickness and teamwork spirit except for swimming.So she hurried for swimming training and then went to Qingdao for the selection confidently.She got the chance as she thought.This time, what she won was the training in the UK and then the race in the USA.It is just like the saying, ‘Sesameopen’, a door to a wider sailing world was open from then on.
Estimated that there would be a problem for her to ask leave for over one month for training and then another over one month for race, Echo resigned from her current job at Tencent Auto Shenzhen Station, to fully enjoy the Clipper training in the UK.She also started to think about herfuture career development and hoped that there would be some link between her future job and sailing so that she could make full use of the seven-month gap between training and race for her future career development.
So after finishing the training and getting back to China, she applied for jobs with quite a few companies in the sailing industries and clubs.When she had her job interview with the China Cup Sailing Regatta,the interviewer asked her, ‘What do you think of your future IP in sailing?What advantages do you have?’ Echo wasstuck, she didn't think thi far as she was only thinking of a job with a sailing company.
The interviewer listed out the famous female sailing person in China at that time: Lily XU as the Olympic Golden Medal Winner, Sun SONG as the first Chinese female Circumnavigator, Little Dragon Girl as the Ambassador of Sweden Stockholm Team and the Bridge between Europe and China.Everyone of them has her unique identity and characteristics.He suggested that Echo might start with a sailing journalist as she was majored in journalism and worked with media before.This was the time that Chinese sailing industry was at the very beginning stage, which might have helped her to find her way.
Fortunately, Sailing, a self-media organisationwas set up at that time, Echo joined in the two-person team without any hesitation.She became the third employee there, a sailing journalist.After joining in, she had a lot of interviews with the Chinese sailing race committee, famous sailors and people in sailing industry.She tried to explore the development of Chinese sailing from their aspects and started to think how to develop her own IP in the future.
图片:2015年9月,首次采访,中国俱乐部杯帆船对抗赛,对话陈锦浩 Photo: First interview with Mr. Jinhao CHEN @ China ClubChallenge Match, 09/2015
Maybe it’s similar to climbing up the mountains and trees at her childhood, Echo started loving to climb up the mast since her Clipper training.Clicking on the safety belt, linking with the halyards, grinding by the other crew, you could be raised up to the top of the mast.The view and feeling ofoverlooking the whole ocean is totally different with what you could experience on land.Therefore she liked to climb up high on the mast whenever there is chance.Whileshe is not tall, not heavy, it is not difficult to grind her up to the top.Other crew were happy to satisfy her with a little favor.
图片:2015年5月英国培训爬桅杆 Photo: Climbing up The Mast @ UK Training, 05/2015
In April 2016, Echo joined her race, Leg 7 of Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.They would sail alongside the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, from Seattle in the west of US to New York, the east of US.The whole Clipper teams would pass the Panama Cannel, which is such a race experience in this long journey.
After knowing the approximate time for the boat to get through the canal, she asked the team to ‘grind her up’.She got her camera ready on top of the mast getting through the cannel, which was a sun-burning experience on top of the boat for over 2 hours.She was so excited and eager to enjoy the rare views and how the Clipper teams were passing through the huge water gate of the channel, being lifted up and put down like a toy brick.She took a picture of the Clipper team in the middle of the canal.After returning back to China, this photo won a special award in a sailing photographic competition.
图片:2016年6月,桅杆顶上过巴拿马运河 Photo: Going Through Panama Cannel On Top of The Mast, 06/2016
When the team was approaching the finishing line near New York, Echo climbed up the mast again.She wanted to see the Liberty Statue from the top.When the statue was approaching, she got more and more excited.Unfortunately, this time the battery in her camera was flat as she was in such a hurry.She was unable to take a photo for this historical moment and had a small regret in hermind, reminding her how important it is to make full preparations in advance.
图片:2016年6月船上看自由女神像 Photo: The Liberty Statue from the Yacht, 06/2016
After getting back from USA after her Clipper race, she wrote an article about her own experience with the race and her journey from the mountain to the ocean since childhood.It became the top 3 reading articles in Sailing at that year.That unforgettable 40-days journey was kept in her memory carefully and became her inspiration. Click here to read the article, Seeing the Sea only at 22 & Seeing the World from the Ocean at 27:22岁她才见到海,27岁她在海上看世界
The journalist Echo from Sailing left a good impression of hardworking to many of her interviewees.Those good impression supported her future development in the sailing world.
At the end of 2016, Echo went to Australia to experience the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and met Mr. Yongfeng LIU, the first Secretary-in-Chief of CAPS, China Association for the Promotion of Sailing and the owner of the first Chinese professional sailing team, Sea Wolf in Shenzhen.Mr. Liu invited Echo to join in Sea Wolf as the team manager, responsible for the team management, media, marketing,government relation and translation.
In the following three years, Echo worked withSea Wolfteam to have training in both Shenzhen and Hong Kong and join in various sailing races in and out of China.She witnessed Sea Wolf to become the first winner for all the top four sailing races in China, namelyChina Cup International Regatta,Round Hainan International Regatta,Club Challenge MatchandCity Clubs Open Regatta.The team won the Overall Second Place and the Second Place of IRC-1 teams in theRolex China Sea Race, over 20 trophies and consecutive two-year winner of the Annual Best Team by theChinese Yachting Association.
图片:2018年3月,与海浪对在菲律宾参加完劳力士中国海帆船赛 Photo: With Sea Wolf Team after Finishing the Rolex China Sea Racein Philippines, 03/2018
Alongside the sweat and tears she had together with the team, she not only saw the growth of Chinese sailing teams and sailors, but also found her connections with sailing get stronger and stronger.In her spare time, she worked with friends to set up a Black Swan Girls Sailing Team to encourage more females to join sailing.
2019, Echo unexpectedly got a chance to join in the national sailing and windsurfing team as a translator.Even though she was only joined in as a borrowing staff from the Sea Wolf team, it was still very rare.For this chance to join in the national team from a local team, the leader in the Sea Wolf gave full support.
In the national team, Echo accompanied the team members to have their following-the-wind training modal in Haikou, Dongshan, Qinhuangdao, wherever the wind is good.She watched their training together with the coaches on the coach dingy and developed good friendship with the team members.The fighting spirit of national team members and their proactive mindset facing all the difficulties caused by the pandemic deeply influenced her.In the Tokyo Olympics, at the historical moments when Yunxiu LU and Kun BI won one gold and one silver medals, she was as proud as them.
The athletes in the national team are not only highly self-disciplined, but also love tolearn.Quite a few world champions are studying in the Champions Class of Beijing Sports University and Shanghai Sports University.There are many masters and doctors in the staff team and many of them have made great contribution in the sports field in their previous careers.They are humble, have good team-spirit and always explore new areas of knowledge and skills.They worked together closely to supportall the athletes to present themselves and China with their best conditions, least injuries and longest sports lifespan.
图片:2021年1月,与国家帆船帆板队海口集训 Photo: With the National Sailing & Windsurfing Team @ Haikou Training, 01/2021
这一切,在Echo眼里,变成他们身上中国帆船人的标签,熠熠生辉。
All these, in the eyes of Echo, became their IPs of Chinese sailing people, shining and glorious.
You become better when you are close togood people.Their good aspects inspired her to keep learning about sailing races and got her certifications for National Judges of Sailing and National Jury of Sailing and Sailing Scoring System.She also joined in many Chinese sailing regattas and championships as the technical official, including the National Games of People’s Republic of China.
05 从学习充电到赛事组织“小满贯”
The Mini Grand Slam from Recharging by Study to Events Organization
2020, the pandemic affected the world and so many things became uncertain.After carefully consulting with many seniors, she made a pause to herself and recharge herself in Shanghai Sports University for a master study in Social Sports Guidance.After her service in Tokyo Olympics and the 14th National Games, she began her study in campus.One year later, she got one seat in the cooperation program between the university and the International Olympic College in Greece.She studied there for the Organization and Management of Olympic Games and challenged herself for both degrees in China and Greece.
She worked as the coordinator in the 63rd Youth Olympic Ambassadors of The International Olympic Committee for the sharing of ideas with over 130 excellent young Olympic Ambassadors from over 70 countries.Then she went to Poland as a volunteer for the Third European Games, looking after the VIP reception and logistics support of the archery game.After getting back from Greece to China, she went to Ningbo as a staff for the operation team of the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games, taking over the formula kite racing fields.For three months, she worked with other 4 staff to lead 24 university students volunteers to serve the teams, athletes, coaches and other related people.
图片:2023年7月,于波兰欧洲运动会担任志愿者 Photo: Volunteer in the European Games @Poland, 07/2023
During the Asian Games, all the reflections as an overseas student in Greece and all those she learned in the class about the Olympics organisation and management became so lively.She could now make full use of them in real work as a staff for the Asian Games.
Looking at the young faces of the volunteers, Echo remembered her happiness during the European Games when the volunteer coordinator could remember everyone’s name and recognized any piece of hard work from everyone.The coordinator specially invited an archery coach to train all the volunteers in the archery game to allow them first-hand experience about the sport they have served.So she invited two other staff who got good understanding of the sports and rules about sailing and kiteboarding, Mr. Wenliang LIN and Mr. Qinlin YE.She worked with them for 3 sharing sessions for the volunteers.
Echo hoped the volunteers would plantea seed of sailing in their hearts after this experience, no matter whether they would keep working with sailing.She said, 'If there are more and more people getting to know sailing, understanding and loving sailing, I would be pleased that I have done one part of my role.’
图片:2023年9月,宁波,杭州亚运会运动员、志愿者、工作人员及技术官员 Photo: @ Ningbo, with Athletes, Volunteers, Staff & Technical Officals of the Asian Games, 09/2023
When the Game was over, all the volunteers gave a postcard to Echo full of their unanimous comments and impression about her.Reading such words, Echo was very sentimental with her mini grand slam in this year, finishing her studying at International Olympic College in Greece, a volunteer at European Games and a staff at Asian Games.She also began to wonder, whether she could join in the Olympics to make big splashin the future?
图片:2023年9月,来自亚运会志愿者小青荷们的祝福语 Photo: Comments from Volunteers of the Asian Games, 09/2023
06未来,帆船还会带来什么?
What Would Sailing Bring In The Future?
环顾整个地球,我们日常工作生活的陆地面积只占29%,更广阔的是71%的海洋。
Looking around the whole globe, the land where we work and live only is 29%, while the wider one is the ocean which holds 71% of the total globe.
Echo said that it was like to open a door for her since joining in Clipper Round the World Yacht Race as Qingdao Ambassador Crew in 2015, which provided her with more and more opportunities to explore the beauty and possibilities of the sea.While, the more you try, the more fascinated you will be for more challenges.
To be an international sailing person is like a sailing destination in front of her.There would be wind and waves, as well as sun, moon and stars ahead.Because it is unknown and uncertain, it is important that sailors make full preparation.In this way, they will have more sense of achievement when they arrive the harbor and their IP would be be clearer and sharper.
Probably, we should make another appointment for sharing about the journey in the following 8 years.Let’s just wish and pray, look over the ocean which holds 71% of the globe and see what it will bring to Echo.
图片:2022年11月,参观古代奥林匹克博物馆 Photo: Visit Ancient Olympic Museum, 11/2022
*关于克利伯环球帆船赛:克利伯环球帆船赛(Clipper Round The World Yacht Race,https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com)是全球最有影响力的环球航海赛事之一,首届赛事于1996年举办,每两年举办一次,比赛线路途经六大洲,全程共40000多海里,完成整个赛程需要近一年时间,每届参赛人数近700余名。赛事欢迎航海爱好者及无航海经验的人士报名参加,通过四周严格的赛前培训后,在专业船长和大副的带领下完成环球比赛。截止目前,全球已有6000余人、中国已有近130人通过参加克利伯环球帆船赛,完成了他们环球航海的人生梦想。
* About ClipperRound The World Yacht Race(https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com):The Clipper Race is one of the biggest challenges of the natural world and an endurance test like no other. It was started in 1996 as abiannual event. It's a40,000 nautical mile race around the world acrossingsix continents in nearly one year. There are around700 people to join in each edition. The race is open to sailing lovers and non-experienced ones. Every candidate will have to pass a four-week strict training and then join in each team with a fully qualified skipper and first mate to safely guide the crew. By now, nearly 6000 people all over the world and around 130 Chinese people have enjoyed the Clipper race and their dreams of crossing the ocean and circumnavigation.
* Note:The article is based on the interviews with the heroin, and the photos and videos in this article are coming from Clipper Website & Echo,Vii C helps witheditingtheEnglish version.Thanks. If you would like to use or quote the article, please make reference, or contact the author for authorization.