Crew members of Great Britain wave goodbye after setting off for Race 9 at the Clipper 2015-16 Round the World Yacht Race in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, Today, March 20, 2016.
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - Renowned by many as one of the toughest features of the circumnavigation, the fleet departs Qingdao for The Seattle Pacific Challenge from China to Seattle, USA, on Sunday.
The mighty Pacific Ocean is the world’s largest and at times, the closest humans to the teams will be those on the International Space Station some 300 miles above them.
Race Director Justin Taylor highlights the main tactical and meteorological points of the crossing: “Possibly fog and definitely China’s huge fishing fleets are in store from the first day along with forecasted light and variable winds as the crew leaves Qingdao.”
The 2016 edition of Asia’s most exciting race marks another chapter as the number of international entries continues to rise and swells the entries to 34.
The Chinese entries continue to grow as the Swan 80 UBOX shows up complete with some Dongfeng crew fresh from the Volvo Ocean Race race.
Due to the large number of fish traps, danbuoys, floats and other fishing gear, after the Parade of Sail, the fleet will then motor-sail in line astern formation just inside the traffic separation system where fishing gear is at a minimum.
At the end of the TSS the fleet will use the preferred shipping route to a virtual mark approximately 30nM out.