"Adventurer Guo Chuan to attempt solo world sail"

Gao Chuan at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club yesterday

In today's South China Morning Post, a report of Gao Chuan's preparations to take Qingdao, an Akilaria Class 40 round the world, solo non-stop.  We're off to the Club this morning for a sail on Xena, so may see the boat there....
Report below the fold as it's behind a paywall on the SCMP site...
LATER: we did see Qingdao alongside the pontoon at the RHKYC last Sunday 23rd and she looked fabulous, extremely well prepared with all new gear aboard.  Everything looked as though it was just where it should be.  She really does look the right stuff for round the world. Hope to get some piccies later, as I forgot to take any myself. Actually, I did take one, at the end of our cruise last Sunday 23rd..

Qingdao at the pontoon, RHKYC, from deck of Xena, after our cruise
out to around Shek Oh rock in 3-5 knots.... nice, relaxing day with
Adrienne, Heiko and Cron, who are going to send some other piccies, I hope..

South China Morning Post, 23 September 2012:

Guo Chuan will have more than a world record on his mind when he sets off to sail solo around the globe in November - he wants to inspire a new generation of Chinese sailors and adventurers.

Guo was in Hong Kong last week to take delivery of the 40-foot Qingdao, the vessel he hopes will see him become the first person to sail an Akilaria Class 40 yacht around the world and the first Chinese man to complete a solo non-stop circumnavigation.

"The 40-foot category is something no one has ever done before, it's totally different," said the 48-year-old. "So it is a big challenge for me and something that I hope will make people in China think about sailing. It is more than just about me, it is about sailing and people becoming involved."

It took a month for Guo's boat to be transported from France to its current berth at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club and he has been fitting it out there before scheduled test runs in the waters around Hong Kong Island this week. The plan is then to sail to Qingdao in Shandong province for final preparations before heading out east in early November and towards Cape Horn in Chile. From there, it's past the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, through the Malacca Strait and finally - after about 130 days on the water - back to Qingdao, having covered an estimated 21,600 nautical miles.

Guo, who has been sailing for 15 years, in 2008 became the first Chinese sailor to take part in the gruelling round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race and has been training full time for this new quest for the past three years.

"I was a late starter with sailing," he said. "And the sport is fairly new in China. But the more attention it gets, the more people will become interested, like me."