Chinese mariner challenges sailing world record

Chinese mariner Guo Chuan sails his trimaran under San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, the United States, embarking on a solo trans-Pacific voyage with Shanghai, China, as the destination, Oct. 18, 2016. He aims to complete the voyage within 20 days to set a new solo non-stop trans-Pacific sailing world record from San Francisco to Shanghai. The current record is 21 days set by crews of Italian Maserati. (Photo/Xinhua)

Chinese mariner Guo Chuan set sail of his trimaran near U.S. west coast city San Francisco, embarking on a solo trans-Pacific voyage with Chinese city Shanghai as the destination on Tuesday.

Guo, aiming to set a new solo non-stop trans-Pacific sailing world record from San Francisco to Shanghai, piloted his trimaran Qingdao China west across the start line under San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate Bridge in the afternoon. His solo sailing across the Pacific Ocean is about 7,000 nautical miles and expected to be completed within 20 days.

The current trans-Pacific speed record is 21 days, set by crews on board the Italian Maserati. When arriving Shanghai, he will be the first to finish a solo non-stop trans-Pacific sailing from San Francisco to Shanghai.

"Most of the pressure will come from the weather," he said prior to departure, adding that the wind could be both his companion and rival.

"You need to be focused and concentrate on all the manual work, making sure the boat in the good order. When the wind is strong, you may make some small mistakes and then they may become larger and larger. So that's part of the things I need to be really careful about," he said.

Despite being alone during the journey, Guo said he is definitely not lonely, as he always has the powerful support from his team as well as his countrymen. He showed strong confidence about the completion of this challenging voyage.

He said he is "psychologically one hundred percent prepared" while "technologically is 90 percent ready" to deal with such a big challenge.

A professional sailor for over 10 years, Guo holds two world records for sailing. One is the solo non-stop circumnavigation world record set in 2013. The other is the Arctic Ocean Northeast Passage non-stop sailing world record set in 2015.

Having recorded a 138-day solo non-stop circumnavigation, Guo didn't think it might be easier to make a solo non-stop trans-Pacific sailing attempt. He felt it's like a dash versus a marathon and they have different challenges and obstacles.

"During the solo circumnavigation, you spend more time in the sea, so you need to have more endurance and eat more rubbish food," he said.

"But this solo trans-Pacific sailing in this boat is another challenge," he said. "It's a mighty boat, really powerful. That means you need concentration every hour, every minute, every second."