Team Alinghi from Switzerland won the championship in Fushan Bay China Extreme Team won the fastest navigational speed award

    On May 1st, Qingdao Leg of 2017 International Extreme Sailing Series which lasted for 4 days came to the end in magnificent Fushan Bay, Qingdao. After 17 rounds of fierce competition, Team Alinghi, a time-honored powerful team from Switzerland, which has once won twice the championship of America’s Cup Sailing, defend the championship of Extreme Sailing for three times, finally outcompeted other 6 international top fleets and won the laurels by scoring 184 and mounted to the highest medal podium of Qingdao Leg for the 2nd consecutive year. Britain BAR Academy Team got the 2nd place with the total score of 173. Oman Air Team and Denmark SAP Extreme Team both scored 168 but the former ranked 3rd with net score advantage.

    Although the China Extreme Team led by Liu Xue, a 24-year-old youth from Qingdao and the leading figure in Chinese sailing of the new generation was at the bottom of score ranking, it obtained the fastest navigational speed award with the speed of 29.8 knots (approximate 55.19 km/hour) in the first round.

    Many citizens and tourists stopped to watch the games in the Olympic Sailing Center and May Fourth Square etc. and felt personally the speed and passion of “F1 in the sea” at shore range. The spectacular GC32 hydrofoil catamaran sped on, dodged and moved, jumped out of water surface from time to time and continuously pushed the site atmosphere to the climax.

    The Extreme Sailing Series of this season composes of 8 legs. Qingdao Leg is the second after Oman Muscat Leg. The competition will successively held in famous places including Madeira Islands in Philippines, Hamburg in Germany, Cardiff in the UK, San Diego in America and Los Cabos in Mexico etc. The competition in the first two legs has finished. Team Alinghi from Switzerland ranks 1st for the time being in the total scoreboard with the score of 23, Denmark SAP Extreme Team is the runner-up with the score of 21 and Oman Air Team wins the 3rd place with the score of 20.

    This is the 7th consecutive year that the International Extreme Series, one of 5 special races of the World Sailing, is held in Qingdao.

    Qingdao youth Li Xue participated in the Extreme Sailing Series for four times

    He finishes the transformation from “rookie” to veteran

    Who is the contestant winning the most attention in Qingdao Leg of 2017 International Extreme Sailing Series? It is not Arno Safagis, the captain of Team Alinghi from Switzerland winning the championship. It is not Roman Hagara, the captain of Austria Team Red Bull who had two Olympic gold medals and came to compete in Qingdao for 10 times. However it is Liu Xue, a 24-year-old youth from Qingdao. This is the 4th time he took part in the Extreme Sailing Series in his hometown.

    Because the team was organized temporarily, the China Extreme Team, the joint captain of which was Liu Xue, was average in performance this time. The best performance in single rounds is the 4th place. However in the first round of contest, China Extreme Team accomplished the fastest instant navigational speed among all the fleets in the competition, which is 29.8 knots equivalent to 55.19 km/hour as quick as a flash. On mentioning this experience, Liu Xue said modestly that his main goal was to learn from these international elite players. “They include Olympic champions, world champions as well as America’s Cup champions. Each of them is my role-model. Therefore I cherish very much this previous opportunity to participate in the competition.”

    On May 2nd, Liu Xue headed for Lorient, France without a stop to join China Dongfeng Team to prepare for the 2017-2018 season Volvo Ocean Race which will kick off in Alicante, Spain this October. During 2014-2015 season, Liu Xue used to compete in the Volvo Ocean Race and helped Dongfeng Team win the third place in the total ranking list during the season.

    Born and brought up in Qingdao, Liu Xue used to be a member of Shandong Provincial Sailing Team and specialized in Laser Class Sailboat. In 2013 as a fledgling rookie, he participated in Qingdao Leg of Extreme Sailing Series for the first time. Except for 2015 when he was occupied with Volvo Ocean Race, whenever his schedule was available in all recent 4 years, he made the appearance and surfed in Qingdao Leg of International Extreme Sailing Series. (Sun Fei)