China's young crew to sail English Channel

A campaign to recruit teen sailors nationwide to form a crew that will cross the English Channel was launched in Beijing on Wednesday.

Initiated and sponsored by China Ship owners' Association and Tao Xingzhi Education Foundation, the sail is scheduled to set off in summer and a documentary will be filmed of the voyage.

The crew will be led by Gao Mingyuan, 52, who used to be a teacher in Daqing of Heilongjiang province and recovered from ascites due to cirrhosis of the liver in 2009. In August of 2009, Gao and his then-13-year-old son set off from their home city and took a year to finish a round-the-nation driven tour. A book recording the tour came out in 2016.

Gao said the tour taught his son what he probably could not learn from class and he himself benefited a lot from the time they spent together. Under bigger circumstances, to learn about the world and meet challenges through marine education is important support to build up a stronger young generation, according to Gao.

Becoming involved in sailing from 2014, Gao has been dreaming of captaining young crew members and has devised sailing courses for his young team mates including sailing skills and mental, physical fitness trainings.

Young sailors selected to take the trip will join a two-month train before leaving for Britain in June and set off in July depending on concerned conditions.