Sina.com comes to Kings Cup

by Al Constsble on 10 Dec 2005 The 12 metre J120 Blue Juice sailing in the IRC Division 2, has become used to media speedboats circling it each day on the Kings Cup race course off Kata Beach.

Blue Juice has received more international media attention than any other boat with 30 media, reporters and photographers from Beijing and Guangdong Television and major Beijing and Shenzhen newspapers reporting on the progress of this, the first ever, Chinese entry in the Phuket King's Cup.

Her 40 year old skipper Wang Bin is Vice President of Sina.com, the boat's sponsor.

While new to the sport, Wang Bin has plenty of sea miles; he sailed from France to China on a multihull earlier in the year with Frenchman Luc Mery, who is coaching the Chinese team.

Sina Corporation is a leading online media company and value-added information service provider for China and for Chinese communities worldwide. With a branded network of localised websites targeting Greater China and overseas Chinese, SINA.com is one of the largest website groups in the world.

With 180 million registered users worldwide, 450 million daily page views and over 42 million active users for a variety of fee-based services, SINA is the most recognized Internet brand name in China and among Chinese communities globally.

Not only is the large Chinese media contingent covering the racing and broadcasting live from Phuket, there is a major boost to Thai tourism with the Chinese media fanning out around the area and filming on land and water.

Wang Bin and his eight Chinese crew have been on a steep learning curve, sailing in the varying conditions. Their best placing was a third in race six and they finished fifth overall.

Thai sailor Viroj Nualkhair’s Octopussy won the IRC 1 division from New Zealander John Vause’s Ruby Tuesday on a count back ahead of Britisher Robert Bailey’s Switchblade.