Volvo Ocean Race - Dongfeng Race Team ready to take to the start line

Thomas Rouxel onboard Dongfeng. Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race

Jiru Yang, aka Wolf © Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race

The preparations are nearly over, the final checklists checked and re-checked, the sailors have packed their clothing and personal effects, the food is on board: 'Real life starts,' said Martin Strömberg, Dongfeng Race Team Watch Leader.

Leg 1 at 6,847 nautical miles from Alicante (Spain) to Cape Town (South Africa) is the second longest leg in the race and will be the first shake down for all seven teams in offshore race mode. 'We want to do the best we can but at this point we don’t know how good that is,' said skipper Charles Caudrelier. 'Our goal is to continue teaching the Chinese sailors and have a respectable result in Leg 1. This first result will maybe less important than how much we manage to improve over the whole race.'

The first leg will be complex leg with many different weather scenarios estimated to take between 21-27 days. A light wind start – around eight knots – is forecast. The fleet will head out of the Mediterranean via the Gibraltar Straits, the gateway to the Atlantic Ocean, where the weather can run at extremes; ahead the Doldrums, a notorious area of little to no wind, straddling the Equator.

'We will be carrying the hopes of China on our shoulders,' said Jiru Yang (Wolf). 'For me and Horace this is the moment we have trained for and we will not let ourselves or the other Chinese sailors in this team down.' Wolf dedicated Leg 1 to Leo (Liu Ming) who has not been selected to race on Leg 1 but who might get his chance to race later in this nine-leg race.

The Dongfeng Race Team is more than just a sailing campaign that is breaking new ground for China. Since the outset the objective has been to find Chinese athletes and personnel to train them to race offshore and manage a professional campaign. It is a ‘long game’ but the first chapter has been written with the long term objective of having a 100% Chinese campaign in the 2020 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. This team is backed principally by Chinese sponsors – Dongfeng Trucks (Title Partner), Aeolus Tyres and the City of Shiyan (Platinum Partners) – and in itself is breaking new ground for sports sponsorship by Chinese companies.

Last preparations for Dongfeng Race Team before the start of the Volvo Ocean Race. © Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race

The development of professional sailing in China will depend on the success of this campaign in terms of reaching out to a new audience in China. But for the crew on board Dongfeng tomorrow, their eyes will be firmly focused on the race ahead.

Dongfeng Race Team's skipper, Charles Caudrelier with his kid before the race. © Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race

Dongfeng Race Team Leg 1 crew:

Charles Caudrelier – Skipper, Helmsman
Yang Jiru (Wolf) – Pit, Trimmer
Kevin Escoffier – Bowman
Thomas Rouxel – Watch Leader, Helmsman, Trimmer
Eric Peron – Helmsman, Trimmer
Martin Stromberg – Watch Leader, Helmsman
Pascal Bidegorry – Navigator, Helmsman, Trimmer
Chen Jinhao (Horace) – Bowman, Trimmer
Yann Riou – Onboard Volvo Ocean Dongfeng Race Team website