After 9 days’ sailing, Qingdao China arrived in Kirkenes around 11.00pm last night.
Leaving from La Trinite sur Mer in France, the trimaran headed north and sailed through the English Channel before she went across the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea until finally arrived in Kirkenes, the northeast port of Norway.
As a sea trial, the 2400nm journey.not only tested the trimaran’s performance, but also offered an excellent opportunity for the crew to gain more experience of sailing at north waters and improve teamwork.
Guo Chuan, skipper of Qingdao China said on arrival, “it is a great sea trial since we left La Trinite sur Mer. Two French crew (Jochen and Quentin) and the German media crew (Tim) joined in the sea trial. In general, it went well. The biggest problem we had is that sometimes we did not have enough wind, but we still arrived in Kirkenes on time, which is very nice. We will have some rest tomorrow morning, and start to check the trimaran in the afternoon.”
All shore team members will arrive in Kirkenes from tomorrow, to join the crew into thorough examination and maintenance work. After that, Qingdao China will leave for Murmansk, the starting point to challenge the non-stop sailing world record of Arctic Northeast Passage. She is expected to arrive in Murmansk by August 30.
