Yacht Style – July 2019

LEADER William Ward, Clipper Ventures

very good and the Chinese authorities recognise that.

We’re pioneers in a sense, but now is the right time. Four years ago

would have been too early, 10 years ago, no way, but now there’s interest

in China on many levels.

I mean, 40 per cent of Range Rovers are sold in China and the

average age of owners is 34. These are the guys who can afford yachts,

who will then need crew. It will be a different market to Europe and the

US, but as long as we’re flexible, it will work. Hopefully it will work

from a business perspective and it will be great to see more people out

on the water.

How has it been working with CYA President Zhang Xiaodong,

someone who has spent much of her life on water and was the

windsurfing silver medallist at the 1992 Olympic Games?

Madam Zhang and Liu Weidong (Secretary General) are both great.

They both seem to have grasped a modern Chinese way of doing things

and they seem to be hitting the ground running at a time when there’s an

interest in sailing and they’ve got the government directives. All of these

things have aligned.

Madam Zhang is very good and very passionate about getting people

out on the water. She’s very open minded and between us it works

well. Although we’re a commercial business, we do very well from the

sponsorship from Chinese cities, so this is a way of giving something

back.

What have you learnt from previous experience of producing

yachts in China, having built the fleet of Clipper 68s in

Shanghai then the 70s in Qingdao?

Both had their problems. I would still do them again, knowing

the problems, but one of the reasons we’ve employed a professional

production manager with a lot of experience of producing yachts,

including in China, is because of attention to detail. It’s keeping on top

of production and making sure no corners are cut. It’s in our interest to

make sure we don’t let these mistakes happen again.

The workers are skilled enough to make these yachts. The yachts

Ward with Zhang Xiaodong, President of the Chinese Yachting Association, on her visit to the Hamble School of Yachting where the Visit Sanya, China crew were training