|
Volvo Ocean Race 2014/15
Start Alicante 4.Oktober 2014 - www.volvooceanrace.com - Übersicht
Problem viewing this email? View the web version.
26th March 2014
DONGFENG RACE TEAM: THE STORY SO FAR IN PICTURES
Dare to dream…
There are a few hundred professional sailing campaigns active worldwide at any given moment but none quite like Dongfeng Race Team. Not many sponsors and sailing management companies would take the risk of hand picking and training athletes from scratch for a campaign as important as the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 but this is the case for Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Company Limited and OC Sport. These two companies, from different ends of the business spectrum, have come together to enter the world’s first Chinese team in the Volvo Ocean Race.
|
VO65 'Dongfeng' Official Launch Ceremony
|
Behind our team lies a long-term sporting mission. A mission to bring professional competitive offshore sailing to China and leave a legacy from, and for, the Volvo Ocean Race. Parallel to this is the aim of demonstrating the value of international sailing sponsorship platforms for Chinese companies as a way to help them go global, as well as western companies already more used to sports sponsorship, who have objectives in the Chinese market.
After launching a major recruitment campaign in November 2013 and holding two intense, non-stop selection trials at Serenity Marina, Sanya, the team’s official training base, Dongfeng Race Team chose 12 Chinese athletes to join the Academy Squad. Over the last few months these sailors have put their hearts and souls into the programme – six of them have now been chosen to embark on the training leg from Sanya, China to Auckland, New Zealand on board the Volvo Ocean 65 Dongfeng (a re-enactment of Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race) under the guidance of French skipper Charles Caudrelier. Caudrelier then faces the difficult decision of choosing which of these Chinese sailors will join the Western professional sailors in the final race crew line-up, to be announced in June when Dongfeng returns to European waters.
Such a bold ambition doesn’t come without challenges for everyone involved. These photographs are a true representation of the team’s journey so far…
NOTE TO MEDIA: Below is just a small selection of images available (copyright free for editorial use) of the project to date. Please visit the Digital Media Exchange (DME) for wider selection – see access link below.
The Trials We launched a major recruitment campaign to find China’s best sailors. By holding various selection trials where we challenged the candidates both mentally and physically, we filtered through the applicants to find the most capable. This is a photograph taken during the first 36 hour non-stop selection trial of successful candidate Liu Xue at approximately 4 o’clock in the morning.
No Pain No Gain The Chinese applicants are pushed to their limits by our Athlete Performance Manager.
The Assembly This image was taken the day the Volvo Ocean 65 ‘Dongfeng’ arrived in Asia for the first time at the Hong Kong United Dockyard. For many of the team this was the first time they would see the boat. Hong Kong was cold, wet and miserable but a determined shore crew worked late into the night to ensure everything was in place for the delivery to the team’s Official Training Base in Sanya, Serenity Marina.
The Heli Shoot This is an image from our first heli shoot took place just off the shores of Middle Island in Hong Kong mid-February.
The Boat Launch Every racing boat will have an Official Boat Launch. Sometimes this will be two people and a bottle of Champagne, sometimes 200 people and a bottle of Champagne… in our case it was the latter! This image captures the moment the bottle of Champagne smashed on the bow christening our Volvo Ocean 65 ‘Dongfeng’ meaning ‘East Wind’.
The Training Once Charles Caudrelier was announced as Skipper at the Official Boat Launch he took the lead in training the successful candidates onboard the Volvo Ocean 65. This is a photograph of Jin Hao Chen during a training session just off the coast of Sanya.
The Injuries Classic camera injury for trialling Onboard Reporter Yuan Xiao. Few of us imagine the difficulty of the job of Onboard Reporter holding a heavy camera that close to your face while the Volvo Ocean 65 is crashing through the waves… a common injury and one that we will no doubt see again.
The Preparation Chinese Sailor Liu Ming trains getting in and out of his wet weather gear as the preparation for the team’s training leg from Sanya towards Auckland.
The Work This is a photograph of Chinese Academy Squad sailors Kit and Wolf grinding within an inch of their life during one of Charles’ gruelling training sessions.
The Essentials The Man Overboard Manoeuvre is essential practice. As many of you will know already, should the unthinkable happen the crew must be prepared as chances of survival are slim, especially at night. This is the harsh reality of falling overboard during the Volvo Ocean Race. In this image, captured during a training session, the waters are flat and the weather calm when in reality the forces of nature that would throw a man overboard see that the real-time situation would be very different.
The Late Nights Our Boat Captain Graham Tourell was overheard saying “I need another 24 hours but I know that even if you gave me another week I would still need an extra 24 hours at the end, it’s just the way it goes.” This photograph was taken at 1am the eve of the boat’s departure for Auckland.
The Weather Skipper Charles Caudrelier is spotted below deck dockside checking the weather ahead of the team’s departure and contemplating the different route options.
The A Team Team Director, Bruno Dubois and Skipper Chales Caudrelier stand overlook Serenity Marina and they discuss the difficult weather conditions facing the team if they depart from Sanya as scheduled.
The Departure Charles Caudrelier, The Volvo Ocean 65 ‘Dongfeng’ and it’s crew are now well into their first training leg. To track the team’s progress click this link: http://dongfengraceteam.geovoile.com/sanya-auckland/2014/app/flash/?lg=en
Boat Assembly at HUD
Assembly of the VO65 at Hong Kong United Dockyard.
© OC Sport
Work out session
Images of the team in full training
© PSI/Dongfeng Race Team
Training Leg Preparation for Auckland
Images of the team in full preparation mode for Auckland
© PSI/Dongfeng Race Team
Training Leg Preparation for Auckland
Images of the team in full preparation mode for Auckland
© PSI/Dongfeng Race Team
Trials Fitness Test
Instructors push the applicants to their limits during a fitness test.
© OC Sport
Training Leg Preparation for Auckland
Images of the team in full preparation for the training leg to Auckland
© PSI/Dongfeng Race Team
Training Leg Preparation for Auckland
Images of the team in full preparation mode for Auckland
© PSI/Dongfeng Race Team
Training Leg Preparation for Auckland
Images of the team in full preparation mode for Auckland
© PSI/Dongfeng Race Team
Training Leg Preparation for Auckland
Images of the team in full preparation for the training leg to Auckland
© PSI/Dongfeng Race Team
Team Training
Kit and Wolf working hard during a training session with the team.
© PSI/Dongfeng Race Team
Onboard Reporter Injury
Trialling OBR Yuan Xiao (aka Sean) is injured by his camera.
© OC Sport
Jin Hao Chen on bow
Image of Chinese Sailor Jon Hao Chen on the bow of the VO65 during a training session.
© PSI/Dongfeng Race Team
Dongfeng Race Team sailing off the coast of Hong Kong
Dongfeng Race Team heli shoot off the coast of Middle Island
© PSI/Volvo Ocean Race
VO65 'Dongfeng' Official Launch Ceremony
From the left: Solo round the world sailor Guo Chuan who also competed in the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09, Tong Dongcheng, the Vice President of Dongfeng Motor Corporation, Zhang Ning, Olympic badminton player, Mr Li Quan-Hai, Director of Watersports National Bureau of the China Yachting Association and Skipper Charles Caudrelier
© OC Sport
|
|
|
