Can China rule the waves again?

Rock climbing wasn't much of a dare for William Wu Liang so he decided to try his hand at sailing. China's America's Cup sailor is now hoping to get picked for his biggest challenge yet - taking part in the Volvo Ocean Race round the world.

Wu is one of eight Chinese sailors who have made the cut and is part of the Dongfeng Race Team presently training and commissioning two training boats in Hong Kong. 

All hope to be picked to take part in the eight-month long odyssey - which begins in Alicante, Spain, in October - to traverse the globe stopping at nine cities, before finishing in Gothenburg, Sweden.

"It has been my dream always to take part in an ocean race. I raced in the America's Cup for China Team [in 2011], but that was match-racing. This is totally different, another entirely new experience," says Wu as he takes a break from working on the training boats, which are high and dry on land at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club.

He is one of seven mainlanders who made the cut from an original list of 20. The eighth sailor is Hong Kong-born Cheng Ying-kit, the team leader, handpicked from a bunch with résumés including the Olympics, America's Cup, Extreme 40 series and the Clipper Race.

"On the last occasion, there was a boat from China, Team Sanya, but it had only one or two local sailors. Our aim is to have a crew of which at least half will be Chinese with the aim, one day down the line, to have a full Chinese crew. This is the first step," says Englishman John Thorn, Dongfeng Race Team performance director.

A leading vehicle manufacturer in China, Dongfeng wants to find a new generation of Chinese sailors.

"China has a proud sailing heritage. Six hundred years ago China had an admiral Zheng He who ruled the seas and with such a proud heritage and long history, I think sailing is in our blood," Wu said. "But in recent times, sailing has taken many steps back and not many people knew about or were interested in the sport. But that is all changing.