Port of call: the city’s inclusion on big-race calendar opens door to the world of sailing

Yachting took off in China after the Volvo Ocean Race stopped in Sanya two years ago. The race highlighted the status of Sanya as a port of call for international sailing events, and introduced sailing to mainland Chinese who, up until then, had little previous exposure to the concept.

Sanya has since established a local Sanya Marina Sailing Academy to accommodate the rush of people who want to sail their own boats, and partnerships, such as the one between the Sanya Visun Royal Yacht Club and an Italian company, Toscana Refit S.r.l, have established themselves as top service providers for the budding industry.

There are two types of sailors that venture to Sanya today. The first group is interested in renting out a yacht for a special event, be it a business conference or meeting, a family outing, deep-sea fishing, or just friends going out for a ride. The second group consists of those who want to own and operate their very own yacht.

The former is much larger and more commonplace for now. But as the second group grows in number and expertise, the city of Sanya has found it needs to build more marinas to accommodate the growing number of boats.

Marinas are planned for the bays in Yalong, Sanya and Haitang which will give sailors smaller ports to dock in on their trip up the coast of Hainan, from Sanya heading west or east.

The Volvo Ocean Race is a leading global regatta that has passed through Sanya twice. City officials feel it is important for Sanya to have its own race. To that end, Sanya staged a series of international sailing races, including the Round Hainan Regatta 2015 and the Sinan Cup Sailing Race 2015.

Both races helped spread the word about yachting in Sanya and gave local enthusiasts the opportunity to see what their boats could do, and compete against like-minded people.