Fan yun fu yu !

by China Team on 21 May 2006 Victory Challenge and Alinghi are the fortunate winners of the day. China Team finished 12th and then in 9th place.

On board the Chinese boat, 22 year old Zhang Wenpei was racing his first America’s Cup race.

Despite the large swells on the water, the wind is light and changeable in Valencia today. The weather is not exactly to CHN79’s advantage, who takes better to breezy conditions. The confused sea makes large waves which crash down on the beach to the pleasure of the photographers used to calmer waters off Valencia.

In the first race, despite an excellent start, the red dragon remained glued to no wind zones and ended up in last position, just 8 seconds behind the German team.

After aggressive start manoeuvres, Pierre Mas and his crew took a deserved ninth place today in the second fleet race of Act 11. CHN79 crossed the finish line just in front Mascalzone Latino’s bow, and in front of the German and and Italians (+39).


Zhang Wenpei discovered today the joys of sailing on an America’s Cup boat. Originally from the Fu Zhen province (facing Taiwan), Wenpei has sailed in the 470 classes and then Finns. He is actually preparing for the Olympic games in sailing. He was firmly attached to his winch pedestal today. His day was one charged with emotion.

'I was very excited, all day long. I love the feeling on board; it is very alive and very dynamic. We sailed well, I think, and got good starts. We can have better results if we are together. Tomorrow we are going to do better! I feel good on this team and find the boat magnificent. It is like a dragon, which swims in the sea. The dragon leaves flying, it falls, and it restarts again like it was alive, in perpetual motion. In Chinese we say 'Fan yun fu yu!'

'Today I replaced Wang Jue, in the grinder position. The movement is not exactly natural and I don’t know well enough the mechanisms, the functions, and the logic. I made a couple silly mistakes, for example missed one of the winch speeds. Zhao Fei was the one to help me correct it. He has a lot more experience than me which helps a lot!'


Overall rankings

1 Alinghi 19

2 Victory Challenge 17

3 Shosholoza 16

4 Desafio Espanol 15

5 Areva Challenge 15

6 Team New Zealand 15

7 Luna Rossa Challenge 14

8 Mascalzone Latino 14

9 + 39 11

10 BMW Oracle Racing 11

11 CHINA TEAM 5

12 Team Germany 4