Recently, 21-year-old Prince Qi from Qingdao, China, successfully completed the half round the world voyage of the 2023-24 Clipper Round the World Sailing Race aboard the "Qingdao" sailboat. Next, the racing fleet will sail towards Asia.
It is understood that Prince Qi grew up in Qingdao and has been involved in sailing since childhood. When he was young, he witnessed the visit of the Clipper Sailing Race fleet to Qingdao. Since then, he has planted the seeds of his dream of long-distance sailing in his heart, hoping that one day he can also board a sailboat and travel around the world. This dream has also been realized through the "Qingdao" ambassador crew project.
After undergoing high-level and intense selection, Prince Qi successfully entered the new season's "Qingdao" ambassador crew list, representing his hometown city to board the "Qingdao" race ship and participate in the 2023-24 Clipper Round the World Sailing Race. This season set sail from Portsmouth, UK in September last year. As of the time of writing this article, Wang Ziqi has sailed a total of 19000 nautical miles, which means he has completed nearly half of the global mileage of this season and successfully crossed the North South Atlantic and South Indian Oceans.
Looking back on the first cross ocean race of this season, Wang Ziqi said, "It was my first cross ocean voyage. I crossed the equator, saw meteors, flying fish, encountered storms, strong gusts, and a variety of weather and sea conditions. I also set a new speed record in the helm position! I learned about sailing with sails, surfing, and other exciting and rare experiences."
A few months after the competition, Prince Qi and his teammates arrived at Newcastle, New Wales, Australia. After completing the 2500 nautical mile race, He said in an interview: In this game, we experienced all the weather and sea conditions in the previous three stages and achieved the highest score goal reward of three points. Especially when we bypassed Tasmania Island, we encountered a surge of up to 7 meters and took big strides sailing in the wind, which was extremely exciting. When we finished the race, the sails flew and we were full of fighting spirit, and everyone cheered loudly. Our team was very united, and the crew helped each other "Support, every time new crew members join, they will actively interact and pass on the spirit of 'Qingdao' throughout the entire team."
Recently, Wang Ziqi and his teammates have just completed a short distance race from Newcastle, New Wales to Ellie Beach, Queensland, covering a distance of 950 nautical miles. They also participated in the fourth stage of the "Qingdao" ambassador crew, Song Xiaowen and Shao Xue. When it comes to the recently completed Airly Beach race, the "Qingdao" team achieved their best record of the season in this competition. Wang Ziqi shared, "This is a tense and exciting six day short distance race. Under the leadership of the captain and first mate, we finished fourth and are now getting closer to our motherland. The fifth stage is about to start!"
For the upcoming sailing into Qingdao, Prince Qi is both excited and looking forward to it. He said that this will be the most special and important moment of the season, and his heart is like an arrow returning!
"Captain Jeronimo Santos Gonzalez of the 'Qingdao' led the team to complete two stages of the race from Cape Town, South Africa to Elle Beach, Australia. He said, 'The performance of the' Qingdao 'ambassador's crew was excellent, bringing passion and strength to the' Qingdao 'team. The main color of the ship is Chinese red, which represents their hearts, their cities, and their motherland.'"
As of now, the competition fleet has sailed 19000 nautical miles. According to the chronological order of the competition, The stops are as follows: Portsmouth, UK - Gaddis Bay, Spain - Cape Est, Uruguay - Cape Town, South Africa - Freemantle, Australia - Newcastle, Australia - Elle Beach, Australia - Xialong Bay, Vietnam - Zhuhai, China - Qingdao, China - Seattle, USA - Panama Canal Transit - Washington, USA - Auburn, Scotland - Portsmouth, UK, with a return date of the end of July 2024. The fleet is expected to arrive in Qingdao, China in March 2024.
近日，来自中国青岛的21岁小伙王子祺驾乘“青岛号”大帆船已顺利完成了2023-24赛季克利伯环球帆船赛半程环球航海，接下来，比赛船队将驶向亚洲。
据了解，王子祺在青岛生活长大，从小就接触并参与帆船运动。幼时，他目睹了克利伯帆船赛船队到访青岛的情景，自那时起就在心中埋下了远洋航海的梦想种子，希望有朝一日也能登上帆船、环游世界，而这一梦想也因“青岛号”大使船员项目得以实现。
在经过高水准、激烈的选拔后，王子祺成功进入了新赛季“青岛号”大使船员名单，代表家乡城市登上“青岛号”赛船，参加2023-24赛季克利伯环球帆船赛。该赛季于去年九月从英国朴茨茅斯起航，截至本文发稿时，王子祺已经累计航行了19000海里，这意味着他已经完成了本赛季近一半的环球里程，顺利跨过了南北大西洋和南印度洋。
回想起本赛季首个跨洋赛段，王子祺表示：“那是我的第一次跨洋航行，驶过了赤道，看见了流星、飞鱼，遭遇了风暴、强阵风和多种多样的天气海况。我在掌舵位上还创造了新的船速记录！学到了球帆航行、滑浪航行等，这都是非常精彩且难得的经历。”
比赛进行几个月之后，王子祺和他的队友们来到了澳洲新威尔士的纽卡斯尔，在完成2500海里的比赛后，他接受采访说：“我们在这一场比赛里经历了之前三个赛段中所有的天气和海况，获得了最高三分的得分门奖励。特别是我们绕过塔斯马尼岛的时候，遇到了高达7米的浪涌，大跨步的顺风航行，简直太刺激了。我们冲线完赛的时候，球帆飞舞、斗志昂扬，大家都大声地欢呼喝彩。我们的队伍很团结，船员们相互帮助、支持，每次有新船员加入的时都会积极互动、传帮带，把‘青岛号’精神贯穿整个赛队。”
近日，王子祺与队友们刚完成从新威尔士纽卡斯尔至昆士兰艾尔利滩的短途比赛，里程950海里，一同参赛的还有第四赛段“青岛号”大使船员宋筱文和邵雪。谈及刚刚完成的艾尔利滩站比赛，“青岛号”赛队在这场比赛中获得了本赛季中的最佳战绩，王子祺分享说：“这是一场紧张刺激的六日短途赛，在船长和大副的带领下，我们获得了第四名，现在距离祖国越来越近，第五赛段即将开启！”
对于即将驾乘大帆船驶入青岛，王子祺既兴奋又期待，他表示，这将是本赛季中最为特殊和重要的时刻，归心似箭！
“青岛号”船长杰罗尼莫·桑托斯·冈萨雷斯率领“青岛号”赛队完成了从南非开普度至澳洲艾尔利滩的两个赛段比赛，他表示：“‘青岛号’大使船员的表现非常出色，给‘青岛号’赛队带来了激情和力量。赛船的主色调是中国红，这正代表了他们的心、他们的城市、他们的祖国。”
截至目前，比赛船队已经航行了19000海里，根据比赛进行的时间先后顺序，停靠站点依次如下：英国朴茨茅斯 - 西班牙加迪斯湾 - 乌拉圭埃斯特角城 - 南非开普敦 - 澳大利亚弗里曼特尔-澳大利亚纽卡斯尔－澳大利亚艾尔利滩 - 越南下龙湾 - 中国珠海 - 中国青岛 - 美国西雅图 - 巴拿马运河中转 - 美国华盛顿 - 苏格兰奥本 - 英国朴茨茅斯，归航时间是2024年7月底。船队预计于2024年3月抵达中国青岛。（来源：帆船之都青岛）
