Chinese sailing teams from the cities of Qingdao and Zhuhai grabbed the top two spots in the seventh stage of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. The nail-biting race, stretching over a marathon of 4,000 nautical miles from Airlie Beach, Australia, to Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, saw the Qingdao team emerge victorious in the end. 

The team had a tight grip on the first position for the last week of the race, but as they approached the finish line, the wind slowed down, and their competitors, the Zhuhai team, began closing in. A narrow finish line and better winds for the boats to the east and west meant that the Qingdao team had to work even harder to maintain their lead, which they did successfully. 

The Qingdao team’s skipper, Philip Quinn, said that it was a nerve-wracking night as they did not know where their competitors were, but they managed to pull off a win against some great competition. The team from Zhuhai crossed the finish line just 40 minutes behind Qingdao, having made a bold move of heading further west to find stronger winds, which paid off. 

This was an impressive achievement for the Qingdao team, which celebrated its first podium of the 2023-24 edition. It was also a debut race for the skipper and the first mate duo, who managed to steer their team to a win.