Guo Chuan, professional Qingdao sailing player, makes preparations for his solo non-stop global voyage at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center on Nov 14. [Photo/Xinhua]

Guo Chuan will start his solo non-stop global voyage with the sail boat, Qingdao, on Nov 18. After three-and-half-year of preparations, Guo, who is the first Chinese to complete the Volvo Ocean Race and the Mini Transat sailing event, will start his new journey from Qingdao.

The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) divides ranks of solo non-stop voyages according to length of hulls, which are 60 feet, 40 feet and indiscriminate. Guo chose the 40-feet level, the most difficult and no one has completed the task which requires the sailor to finish 21,600 sea miles ( about 41,810 kilometers) at sea without stopping for supplies in about four and half months, according to qingdaonews.com.

Approved by the ISAF, the ship route is scheduled to go through Qingdao, the equator, Cape Horn, Weddell Sea, Cape of Good Hope, Malacca and back to Qingdao next April, which is a unprecedented course from the Orient.