Chinese 2015-16 Qingdao Ambassador crew members announced

Following a week of intense testing, a team of crew members who will represent Qingdao, China's ‘Sailing City,’ around the world during the Clipper 2015-16 Race have been confirmed.

The 2015-16 edition will mark the sixth time that Qingdao, which is also a Host Port in the race, has entered a team in the biennial event, making the city our longest standing Team Sponsor.

The reputation of the Clipper Race continues to grow in China and more people than ever applied for the crew places, perhaps inspired by Vicky Song who became the first ever Chinese woman to circumnavigate the planet when she completed the last edition of the race.

Vicky Song, who attended the crew selection process to help advise Qingdao sailing officials, said: "I was very happy to see that so many more people are applying for the crew selection, and that more people in China are aware of sailing and the Clipper Race.

“It was very difficult this year for the organising committee to choose, because the quality of the applicants was very high. Many of them have asked me questions about the challenge and I was happy to answer as much as I know to help them in finding out what life is like on board. I hope that all the crew members enjoy their adventure, which really starts from this selection announcement."

Of the applicants, 40 people were invited to attend the selection process which involved physical, sailing and seasickness testing, as well as determining the candidates’ English writing and speaking abilities.

A total of 17 candidates have been selected. Two of these are named as reserves, and one is a media crew member who will report on the race to Chinese TV. Two additional crew are yet to be named from the Qingdao Sailing Federation.

The selected candidates are listed here. They include eight women, and ages ranging from 21 to 49, representing a wide range of professions, including an air steward, a professor, students, and an air medic, among more: Zeng ‘Echo’ Xue, Cai ‘Carol’ NingYun, Chi ShenXi, Chen Xin, Xiao ‘ Angela’ Fan, Liu ‘Ken’ QingJun, Liu ‘Melody’ MingYue, Zhou ‘Elena’ Yi, Chen Jie, Wang ‘Sean’ XiangSheng, Zou ‘Bear’ RenFeng, Ju ‘Charlotte’ ShuoShuo, Pan ‘Albert’ Ping, Cai HuanYu, Xu Jing, Fan WenShuo (reserve crew member), Ma Ying Cheng (reserve crew member), and Kevin Xu, a media berth crew member.

These selected applicants will travel to the Clipper Race training base in the UK this May and July in two groups to complete their race training, where they will also find out which race legs they will compete in.

Qingdao’s decision to sponsor an entry in the Clipper Race since 2005 is to build its legacy following hosting the sailing in the Beijing Olympics as China’s ‘Sailing City’ and to promote tourism and trade from around the world.

Click here to watch the video of the Qingdao Ambassador selection process.