Qingdao finishes third in Round 6 of Clipper World Yacht Race

(China Daily Shandong Bureau/Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-02-21 17:26

Qingdao finishes third in Round 6 of Clipper World Yacht Race

The Qingdao yacht arrived at its home port on the morning of Feb 21, 2010. [Ju Chuanjiang/China Daily]

QINGDAO: The yacht named Qingdao, featured with a red dragon, arrived at Qingdao's famous Olympic sailing center Sunday morning to finish third in Round 6 of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

Huge crowds packed in the Olympic sailing center to welcome the boat as a 18-day navigation from Singapore to the east China's port city reached its dramatic conclusion.

"The race from Singapore to Qingdao is the most difficult race around the world this year. The whole fleet faced big seas and strong winds to come here, but as we arrived here we see that this race is the biggest reward," said Chris Stanmore, skipper of the Qingdao yacht.

The Qingdao yacht, together with eight other Clipper yachts, will stay in the east China's port city for 10 days before leaving for California on March 2.

The Qingdao yacht, owned by a Chinese company, took part in the Clipper race for the first time in 2005.

Covering 35,000 miles, the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Race, consisted a total of 14 individual races, will last 10 months. The Clipper fleet departed Hull, Britain on September 13 last year and is scheduled to return to Hull on July 17 this year. The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, held every two years, is the largest amateur yacht race in the world.