A Chinese sailor navigates extremes
( Xinhua )
Updated: 2013-05-24
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"IT'S ADDICTIVE"
Fifteen years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine Guo as a sport sailor.
Born in Qingdao, Shandong Province, in 1965, Guo once dreamed of being a scientist. He holds a master's degree in aircraft control from the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a master's degree from the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, one of China's top business schools.
In the 1990s, Guo managed a branch company of China Great Wall Industry Corporation, the country's only commercial organization that provides satellites and commercial launch services and carries out international space cooperation.
His life changed during a trip to Hong Kong in 1998, when he boarded a friend's yacht for a day of sailing.
"The feeling of braving the winds and waves is like... I was free from all boundaries," he reminisces. "Sailing creates an adrenaline rush in me, especially when I conquer a storm with logical thinking and efficient handling. It's addictive."
In 2000, Guo resigned as deputy general manager of the company and devoted himself to sailing.
"I found that I longed for challenge and adventure. My job was promising, but I knew that I wanted something else," says Guo, who began training as a professional sailor in France in 2004.
As China's first professional ocean sailor, Guo participated in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in 2006 and took part in the Mini Transat race in 2011, successfully sailing solo across the Atlantic Ocean in a 6.5-meter mini yacht.
Sailing has been popular as a sport in Western countries for over 400 years, but hadn't been introduced to China until the 1990s, as Chinese incomes have grown and the country's two applications to host the Olympic Games brought in more Western sports.
"But it is developing very fast," Guo says, pointing out that the amount of yachting clubs in China has ballooned in the past decade.
Voiles & Voiliers, a leading professional sailing magazine, pointed out in January that Guo's transition from engineer to one of China's top sailors shows that the sport is making waves in China.
