Son of the Dragon

Congrats to China Team on last evening's spirited naming ceremony for CHN-95, the first Chinese yacht in the history of the America's Cup.

While a projection of a TAG Heuer watch counted down the 30 minutes to the bottle smash, speeches were given by, among others, the Chinese Ambassador to Spain Mr. Qiu Xiaoqi, Valencia Mayoress Rita Barberá and syndicate chairman Wang Chao Yong.

The first-ever AC team representing a Chinese yacht club, powered largely by the former French AC team Le Defi, backed by Swiss-based main partner in TAG Heuer, for an unprecedented AC event in Spain, used a bottle of Chivas from Scotland swung by the Chinese model Xin Li (who splits her time between Los Angeles and New York) to "christen" the yacht Longtze while a number of French and German marketing mavens hovered in the wings. Not to mention that the yacht was constructed in China by a boat building team led by Australians.

Needless to say the evening was a colorful mix of sights, sounds, tastes, personalities and languages -- including English, French, German, Mandarin and of course Spanish, in which most of the ceremony was conducted. The unskirted yacht -- with its colors, graphics and name -- is distinctly Chinese.



CHN-95, after being christened Longtze -- Son of the Dragon -- at the China Team Base in the Port America's Cup last evening. Photo courtesy of Pierre Orphanidis, Valencia Sailing whose camera was much better in the rain and smoke than your Ed.'s normally-trusty phone cam.