(Xiamen, China)- J/80s continue to expand their fleets and events across
the vast shorelines and river deltas of China. This fall there is a
good chance for those who sail in Asia/Pac to hop aboard a J/80 and help
grow the sport of sailing to an enthusiastic group of budding sailors. The first event is the China Club Match Racing Championships, being held on October 1st through the 7th in Xiamen. Currently there are 48 Chinese teams registered for the largest J/80 event in the Asian Market. This event will be larger, in fact, than last year's Asia Games that saw strong participation from Asian sailing teams from across the region. That's enormous growth in such a short period of time. For a sense of perspective on the wealth and growth of this region and why the middle-class want to experience new outdoor activities that are supported by their governments (like sailing- the ultimate "green", environmentally-friendly recreation), the "Golden Triangle" is defined as Japan/ Korea to the East, China
to
the North, the "island nations" to the South (Philippines/ Malaysia/
Singapore/ Indonesia), Hong Kong and India as part of "the West"-- it's
collective GDP of $15+ trillion far exceeds that of America or Europe---
with projections by 2025 to eclipse both USA and Europe combined (e.g.
so what are 2.5 BILLION people going to spend their leisure time doing?
Sailing is cheap, comparatively speaking). Ever wonder why Macau,
China (one of the 16th century's most prolific trading ports) is the
gambling capital of the world today? Hmmm. Good thing that J/80s will be
sailing on Wuyuan Bay off Xiamen. For more sailing and regatta information.Next up on the schedule will be the J/80 Fall Regatta in southern China. This event runs from October 14-16 and will be sailed off LiuZhou, GuangXi, China. For more sailing information, please visit http://www.cnmcr.com (if you can't read Chinese, please contact Jim or Cindy below for an introduction on how to sail the event).
Finally, if you haven't been able to make travel plans to get to either Xiamen or Liu Zhou to sail J/80s, you can always catch up with the local J/80 sailors in Xiamen at this fall's Xiamen Boatshow from November 4th to 7th. As Jim, Hudson and Cindy have explained many times, there is such enthusiasm for sailing locally that they're literally booking people weeks in advance to get on board the boats. The Xiamen Boatshow is a great way to meet them all. More Xiamen Boatshow details can be found here.
For more Chinese sailing and Xiamen show information, you can always email J/Boats Asia- Cindy Chen (cindy.cheng@hudsonyacht.com) or Jim Johnstone (jimjboats@gmail.com).
