China Cup 2013: Interviews with sailors at the regatta in Shenzhen

Andy Rice talks to Choni Lin who is 'crawling up the walls' after two months of self-isolation in Shenzhen, the tech capital of China. Andy and Choni worked together at last November's sailing regatta, the China Cup.

With 111 entries ranging in size from FarEast28R one-design keelboats up to Jelik III, Frank Pong’s Reichel-Pugh 75-foot racing sled, the ninth edition of the China Cup International Regatta delivered some spectacular racing conditions. The event is also getting new people into sailing...

Simon Cooke Vatti speaks about racing at the 8th China Cup International Regatta in Shenzhen, October 2014

Laurence Nicolas speaks about racing at the 8th China Cup International Regatta in Shenzhen, October 2014

Albert Diesch speaks about racing at the 8th China Cup International Regatta in Shenzhen, October 2014

Bruno Dubois speaks about racing at the 8th China Cup International Regatta in Shenzhen, October 2014

Bernaud Bonneau on how he slashed the number of protests at the 2013 China Cup. “We have red flags, and when we see an incident, we raise a flag, no pointing, it means a boat has infringed. If we don't point, it's one turn, but if we have to point, then it's two turns.”

The 2013 China Cup has been the most professionally managed thus far, according to Frank Pong, owner of the 75ft maxi-sled Jelik. “For us this week, our results haven’t been terrific, but for the China Cup, the event is getting close to world class.”

“A great week on and off the water,” said Vanke Loncheer crewman Marcus Ashley-Jones. “We were lucky enough to get here a few days early. We arrived for a bit of crew training at Longcheer Yacht Club and then we found we were competitive speed-wise. We had a lot of battles with the Vatti team. It’s been great.”

For 470 Olympic Champion Jo Aleh, the China Cup is her first foray into competitive keelboat racing. “We’re happy with how we sailed today, with two clean races. It was easy to get wrong, so we’re happy to get two keepers.”