Qingdao has won the championship of Schedule 7!
After a tense and intense competition at the finish line, the "Qingdao" race team, named after China's sailing capital, finally won the top spot and won the championship of the "Endless Discovery Journey to Xialongwan" race in Schedule 7. This is the first single race championship won by the team in this season's Clipper Round the World sailing competition.
This race started from the Holy Spirit Islands in Australia in the southern hemisphere, crossed the equator and headed towards Xialong Bay in Vietnam, with a total distance of over 4000 nautical miles. During the final week of the race, Qingdao was always in a leading position, but during the lead, it was closely followed by the Zhuhai and UNICEF ships from behind, especially on the last morning before the race, and the competition became even more intense.
The narrow finish line, coupled with better wind conditions being chased by the rear team, led by Captain Philip Quinn and First Officer Henry Harriet, the crew of the "Qingdao" vessel worked hard to maintain their leading position. This was also the first joint cooperation between the new captain and First Officer, and finally, with the efforts of all crew members, they broke through the line at 00:58:04 on February 18, World Standard Time.
The "Qingdao" team with the Chinese Loong pattern just spent the New Year's Eve on the way to the the Year of the Loong in China. Some people said that perhaps this auspicious omen brought a stronger spirit of struggle and struggle to the crew of the "Qingdao".
After arriving at the port, Captain Philip sprayed sparkling champagne and celebrated the beautiful moment of victory with the crew. The crew of the "Qingdao" also began their journey of rest and adjustment at the Xialongwan stop in Vietnam. The Clipper fleet will stop at Xialongwan for about two weeks to rest and recuperate. The next race - Schedule 8 is scheduled to start on March 2nd, with a destination of Zhuhai. After the fleet arrives in Zhuhai for rest and recuperation, they will resume their race and sail towards Qingdao. It is expected to arrive in Qingdao in mid to late March.
青岛号荣获赛程7冠军！
经过了终点线紧张激烈的对决比拼后，中国帆船之都冠名的‘青岛号’赛队最终力拔头筹、获得了赛程7‘下龙湾无尽发现之旅’比赛的冠军，这是该赛队在本赛季克利伯环球帆船上中获得的首个单赛程冠军。
本场比赛从南半球的澳洲圣灵群岛出发，跨越赤道后驶向越南下龙湾，总里程超过四千海里，比赛进行到最后一周时，青岛号就一直处在领跑位置，但领先过程中一直受到了后方‘珠海号’和‘联合国儿童基金会号’的紧追不舍，尤其是冲线前的最后一个早上，比拼愈加激烈。
狭窄的终点线加上风况更好的后方赛队追赶，‘青岛号’船长菲利普·奎恩和大副亨利·哈雷特率领全体船员全力拼搏，使出浑身解数保持领跑位置，这也是新任船长和大副的首次联手配合，最终在全员的努力下于世界标准时间2月18日00:58:04时分秒率先冲线。
带着中国龙图案的‘青岛号’赛队正好在这场比赛的途中度过了除夕、来到了中国龙年，有人说或许是这一祥兆给‘青岛号’船员带来了更强的拼搏和奋斗精神。
抵港后，船长菲利普喷洒气泡香槟，与船员们共庆胜利美好时刻，‘青岛号’船员们也就此开始了越南下龙湾停靠站的休憩调整之旅。克利伯船队将在下龙湾停靠休整两周左右时间，下场比赛-赛程8计划于3月2日开始，目的地珠海，船队抵达珠海停靠休整后将再次开赛驶向青岛，预计在三月中下旬抵达青岛。（来源：帆船之都青岛）
