Stern challenge for round-the-world hero

A press conference in Beijing hears details of the event. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The first Chinese to complete a solo nonstop circumnavigation of the globe faces his greatest challenge yet, sailing across the Arctic with an international crew along a route never before conquered.

Chinese skipper Guo Chuan, who finished his 138-day nonstop voyage in April 2013, will set sail with crew members from Russia, Britain, France and Norway on a 29.7-meter trimaran for a 6,112-kilometer voyage along the northern Russian coast across the Arctic, the event organizers announced in Beijing on Thursday.

Guo's four-man crew will start from the North Russian port city of Murmansk in early September when the ocean ice melts and is expected to finish in the easternmost Russian port of Provideniya in approximately 15 days covering a route which is shorter than the current shipping line but has never been sailed before.

Should the venture succeed, Guo's crew will set a new world record for the fastest nonstop across-the-Arctic navigation.

"It's more challenging than my individual sail because of the unpredictable meteorological conditions along the route and the extremely low-temperature environment in the Arctic ocean. It will be an all-new route with no man having sailed it before, so the uncertainty will bring more risks," said Guo, who became the first man to finish a solo global voyage on a class-40 boat.

The groundbreaking journey has been jointly organized by Qingdao Olympic Sailing City Development Association (QOSCDA) and Qingdao Administration Center of Sailing Sport inspired by the initiative of building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

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