Chinese skipper sets new record with fastest Arctic voyage

Chinese skipper Guo Chuan celebrates onboard the Qingdao China after finishing a nonstop voyage through the Arctic Ocean. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Chinese skipper Guo Chuan, sailing on the trimaran named Qingdao China with an international crew, completed a nonstop voyage through the Arctic Ocean on Wednesday morning, setting a world record for the fastest across-the-Arctic navigation.

Qingdao China, which set sail on Sept 3 from Russian port city Murmansk, successfully passed the finish line on the Bering Strait on early morning of Wednesday after a 13-day, over 3,240 nautical-mile (6,000km)voyage through the Northeast Passage of the Arctic.

It is the first time in history that a racing trimaran completed a nonstop Arctic sail along a route which is shorter than the current shipping line but had never been conquered by civilian and commercial vessels in just 13 days.

Led by Guo, the five-men international crew onboard were Jochen Krauth and Quentin Monegier from France, Boris Herrmann and Tim Frank (media crew) from Germany and Sergei Nizovtsev from Russia.

It's the second major record set by Guo, an enthusiastic Chinese navigator who became the first man worldwide to finish a 138-day solo nonstop circumnavigation on a class-40 boat in April 2013.

After achieving the feat, Guo and his crew members were so excited that they could not hold back their emotions.

All of them jumped in the air with joy and felt proud when the boat crossed the finish line. To celebrate the accomplishment, German crew Herrmann took out a white board and Guo wrote the historic line onto it, "Arctic Ocean, Northeast passage, World Record, 15 September, 2015."