Eastern Promise
by Mark Jardine 14 Oct 2024 20:00 BST
Travelling around the world to see how sailing is practised is enlightening, and a recent trip to China to attend the Shuifu Jinshajiang River Regatta turned out to be one of the most interesting events I've ever seen.
Visiting a country I'd never been to, experiencing a culture which is both very different and strikingly similar at the same time, and understanding how the sport is developing there, with such a vast population and geographical spread, was in many ways mind blowing.
The event itself was held on the Jinshajiang River near Yibin, on a section above a large hydroelectric dam, which resulted in the current being slow. The area is hilly, with trees stretching from shore to the peaks, making for a stunning backdrop.
A combination of adults, university students, youth and kids were competing, across a fleet of four FarEast 28 yachts and thirty FD Future dinghies. The dinghy fleet saw a combination of singlehanded and doublehanded teams, representing various clubs and colleges.
Some of the kids had only been sailing for a couple of weeks, but it was striking how quickly they picked up the basics and were happily competing in races. The more experienced were starting to sail tactically, while the most skilled were picking up the nuances of the wind which, being on a river surrounded by high hills, was inevitably shifty and gusty.
Watching Captain Wei, who completed the first circumnavigation in a Chinese flagged modern yacht back in 2012, instructing the children from his boat was inspiring. He is passing on his skills to the next generation, and the kids clearly respect him, enjoying the way he teaches. In much the same way as a coached fleet may happen at an event in the UK, he drives around giving tips here and there where needed, such as trimming on the mainsail more, or using the tiller less to adjust their course.
There were also parent and child teams competing, with some of the children being as young as six years old, gaining their first experience on the water. Some were staying in contact with their parents via walkie talkie on another boat, giving them reassurance that they were around if needed.
The younger sailors were clearly enjoying themselves and keen for more. Talking with them over lunch, describing how to look for the wind using chopsticks and bowls to illustrate points, they were listening intently and were looking around at the water for signs of breeze far more in the afternoon.
The Race Officer was Mr Wang Lukun, who competed in the 2019 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, and was clearly passionate about the growth of sailing in China and also wanting to pass on his knowledge to the next generation of sailors. Setting courses in the light wind conditions was tricky, and he made the best of the wind when it was there to maximise the time sailing.
An event like this doesn't come about on its own, and behind every emerging regatta is a strong and driven person who brings it from idea to reality. Mr Deng XinQiang galvanised a team together and made the Shuifu Jinshajiang River Regatta happen, and was already talking about how he will take it to the next stage in 2025. He is an instantly likeable man who calmly got things done. With a strong commercial background, his skills came to the fore to bring it all together.
China in general and the CYA (China Yachting Association) are putting a strong emphasis on youth sport at the moment, so events such as this are supported financially and logistically by the government, demonstrated by Shi Huasong, the Communist Party secretary of Shuifu City, attending the launch ceremony and announcing it open.
Mr Liu, Vice President and Secretary General at the CYA, explained the growth strategy for sailing, with the aim of getting one million children and youth on the water competing in the next few years. He said this was small compared to the recent growth of tennis in the country, which has gone from almost nothing to 20 million active participants, but it is still a staggering number when looking at the sport on a global scale.
To ensure best practice, Mr Liu had recently visited the RYA (Royal Yachting Association) in Hamble, UK to learn about their training courses, and the CYA now use the RYA Dinghy Level 1 to 5 scheme to train junior and youth sailors, and have quickly expanded to 30 training centres around the country.
The FD Future, which is being adopted more and more in the country, is an ideal dinghy for helping sailors learn. The hull form is easily driven, stable and can get up on the plane in the breeze. The boat is made of 3-layer PE sandwich, so is robust, and can be sailed by either one or two people, occasionally three with the youngest kids on board. The boat self-drains easily, with no water pocketing on the deck, and is easy to right after a capsize.
The rig is unstayed and deliberately simple so as to be easy to understand for newcomers and keep maintenance to a minimum. With the mast relatively far forward, there is plenty of space, and it can be sailed with mainsail alone, or with the addition of a jib and/or spinnaker.
While the standard mainsail is unbattened there is a 'Future X' version, which is a larger sail at 6m2 and fully-battened.
Wang Zongping, Dean of the Sports School of Yunnan University, is another who is recognising the benefits of sailing for his students. He described how sailors have a spark in their eye and want to travel. As we all know, sailing can take you to some incredible places, and he was quick to recognise the opportunities the sport can provide and how it can broaden people's horizons.
While there are sailing and yacht clubs in China, few have the membership structures that we'd recognised in the West. They are instead a combination of event centre and boat hire organisation. As the sport grows, there will be a need to transition towards a membership model of club, so that the sailing communities can grow, and generational sailing can occur, drawing in more people from their local area to participate.
With more clubs in the West transitioning to using boat hire schemes, it feels like clubs around the world are all trying to find the happy medium of membership, privately owned boats, club owned boats, and the volunteer/commercial balance, but coming at it from opposite directions.
Ceremony and tradition are both hugely important in China, and the prize-giving was spectacular, with the winners recognised and then all the competitors invited on stage and given medals for them to remember the event. Copies of David Houghton and Fiona Campbell's Wind Strategy book were handed out, which seemed ideal at an event where looking for the gusts and shifts was of paramount importance.
I was deeply moved by my all too brief visit, having found keen and friendly sailors imparting their knowledge to a new generation who previously haven't had the chance to take to the water. Following how this evolves, and visiting other areas of the country where the sport is more developed, will be incredibly interesting over the next few years. The promise of sailing's growth in the East is huge.
Mark Jardine
Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com Managing Editor