Qingdao setting Clipper race pace

Robin Knox-Johnston, founder of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, is confident China will one day have a skipper in the race.

Since being launched in 1996 as the largest amateur yacht race in the world, Johnston said the race has helped more than 5,000 people realize their sailing dreams - and 40 percent of them had no previous racing experience.

"I hope the number rises to 10,000 over the next 10 years," said Knox-Johnston as the 11 yachts participating in the Asia-Pacific leg of this year's race, which stopped over in Sanya, neared the finish in Qingdao, Shandong province.