Heroes Welcome for Green Dragon in Qingdao
(per Lucy Harwood, Green Dragon support)
All photos David Branigan/Oceansport
Green Dragon the Chinese/Irish entry has arrived in Qingdao to a heroes welcome after completing Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race. It was one of the most punishing legs the crew have ever experienced. The 14 day race to China has thrown everything at both boat and crew, testing them mentally and physically, but their determination to reach Qingdao never wavered and all 11 crew and the boat are now safely on the dock. Leg 4 certainly surpassed expectations, as the fleet faced a war of attrition over the 2,500 mile upwind slog to China. Just four boats have completed the leg, with Telefonica Black, Ericsson 3 and Delta Lloyd all forced to retire or suspend racing due to structural damage to their boats. The Dragon was the only boat to affect major structural repairs and stay on the race course. The leg certainly lived up to the tag line of ‘Life at the Extreme’ and the crew were visibly relieved to see the miles behind them and the crowd of well wishers that came out to welcome them in.
Upon arrival in Qingdao Green Dragon was greeted by fireworks and 500 Chinese drummers who lined the dock. Crowds of locals who had come to welcome the Dragon back to China, sounded horns and waved flags as the crew walked along the “Great wall of China” towards the stage. It has been just over a year since Green Dragon was built and launched in Zhuhai, the boat was constructed at McConaghy’s build shed with 90 Chinese boat builders involved in its construction.
For the Dragon’s Media Crew Member Guo Chuan, it was an emotional moment to return to his home town and see friends and family for the first time in months. Guo, who grew up in Qingdao is the first Chinese crew member to compete in the Volvo Ocean Race, with Green Dragon holding the first Chinese sponsorship of a campaign within this event.
Guo Chaun
“It is amazing to be home, it is a great contrast between being on the boat
surrounded by the furious wind, to be standing here now. When we arrived here we
received the warmest welcome from the people of
Qingdao. We would like to
say great thanks to all the people who have come here to welcome the Dragon
home”.
An elated Ian Walker commented upon arrival
“It really has all been worth it to finally get here to
Qingdao. This is just
amazing, It was hard to imagine when we broke our forestay that would be coming
in fourth, let alone the damage we sustained later. Without the forestay we
weren’t able to sail any jibs, which meant we were done competitively for the
rest of the race. We knew it was going to get really windy and that it would
shake things down. We were quite aggressive we went out into the strongest
winds, we didn’t hold back, but those are just the decisions you make. I never
thought we were going to sink, but if you break the bow of the boat it means you
are going to have to stop. Fortunately when we did break it I happened to be
sitting right there. I heard a crack and I went up to investigate and I saw it.
So we stopped immediately, which probably stopped the damage from propagating
and that enabled us to turn around and fix it. The repair they have done onboard
is just incredible. There are eleven guys on this boat who can all look each
other in the face and we all have a shared experience”.
And you delivered Guo home as well?
Guo has been such a rock, he stayed with us since July, he’s only been home
once in that time. He helmed the last hour and over the finishing line, to see
his reaction, and to see his family here has just made the whole thing all worth
while.
Have you ever sailed anything like that last leg before?
Not in the sense of just the raw emotion, one minute your up one minute
you’re down. It was difficult to weigh up what to do. We didn’t know whether to
hold back, to race hard, should we pull in, should we go back, should we go to
Hong Kong. We
just said whatever happens we have got to get to Qingdao, and we got here. I
feel sorry for the guys who broke their boats, but I am delighted to have
fourth.
Green Dragon claim four points for Leg 4, raising them to fourth overall on the leaderboard