21st Hobie 16 Worlds - Depeng Shenzhen China

welcome back
how was it being in china for a month?

Hot! Wet! Long... but over all great experience.

cool !

He even speaks the language <img src="<>/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile" height="15" width="15" />

I'm sure the answer is obvious, but where do they get the money to blow on wrapping buildings, when we scrape for bare-bones regatta sponsorship in the US?

Mike

Wow, thats pretty cool!

Government / sporting authority I am pretty sure... incredible. 4 big buildings 360 wrap. Highway billboards, Airport electronic signage rotating the event info. Event flags ALL over town on the roads. 4 big tour buses wrapped in event signage that picked up teams at the airport and rotate to and from the sailing venue. Big venue tents, meals daily on the beach, banners all along the waterfront, tons of volunteers daily, Security including metal detectors, viewing areas for visitors and secure event areas... Crazy banquets and entertainment. Hobie Worlds are unique events for sure and crazy cool when in China.

Hu Jintao paid for it out of the General Fund

You say that like it's a problem? Having done a little business in that country, it was an eye-opener how obvious and acceptable some business practices are in China that would be shunned or outright illegal in the west.

no...
I'm all in favor of State Funded catamaran racing! heck, I might even apply for a grant to study the effects of sun, wind and rum from our gubment

So did any real spectators show up?

Wow, that looks like an awesome event Matt! What are they doing with the H16's now? Are they all going to stay in China to be used in their programs, or are some going to come back to the USA for sale or...?

A few years back I read the book,

The World is Flat, Hot and Crowded

which is the sequel to

The World is Flat.

In the book the author talks about the emergence of both China and India's middle class, and the need for cheaper energy for them to power their ever increasing technology growth. He makes the very good point that in China, they don't have to deal with the EPA, or any other government regulations which hold our development back. The Grand Leader simply says,

Make it so

and so it is, oh, and it's all paid for by The State.

I'm sure they didn't have to go get permits to use the beach front, or wrap the buildings, or pay for the buses, or any of that other stuff that we would have to do if we tried to run the same scale event here. I'll bet they didn't pay a whole bunch for liability insurance either!

There were a lot of spectators stopping by, but the spot was kinda remote and not good parking.

Some boats were moved to a sailing center close by. The rest go into storage for a future series that have planned.

It was an awesome event exceeding my expectations of China. Yes it was hot, hot and then wet wet wet. The Hobie factory team does an incredible job and my hats off to them. What a special thing it is to show up in a foreign country and have 60 brand new cats sitting there rigged and ready to sail. Thanks Matt and Hobie Co