UBOX Chinese crew ready for another crack at Sydney to Hobart after impressive 13th place
The dual French-China team feature many of the sailors who were part of the Dongfeng crew in the Volvo Ocean Race
The Chinese crew of Sydney-to-Hobart China entry UBOX put on an impressive show in the bluewater classic in a performance that is sure to boost the profile of sailing in the mainland.
The Bruce Farr-designed Cookson 50 – featuring many of the sailors who participated in Dongfeng’s Volvo Ocean Race – finished 13th in the line honours category and performed even better in the four handicap events, finishing first (ORCi - Div 1), first (ORCi), third (IRC - Div 0) and third (IRC).
Co-skippered by Dongfeng captain Charles Caudrelier and Wang Lei, the French-China crew completed the 628-nautical-mile race in two days, five hours, six minutes and 33 seconds. Australia’s Perpetual Loyal won the race in a record 01:13:31:20.
“We learned a lot, and the co-operation was quite awesome,” Yang “Wolf” Jiru, who was also a crew for Dongfeng, told organisers. “At the beginning people said it would be a lot of upwind [sailing], bam bam, but we were quite lucky. A lot of downwind reaching.
“It was a lot of fun. During the first night, we reached 30 knots and were sailing very fast. We all enjoyed it.”
The race gained widespread coverage in China given the presence of UBOX, the former Pretty Fly III that was bought by the company’s chief executive, Wang Bin, in November.