THE SHANGHAI EXPRESS
Two days later, a solid force 5-6 south-westerly was forecast, perfect for our next target – a massive German container ship – the Shanghai Express. Built in 2013, ironically by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan Korea (Just round the corner from the PWA World Cup event site), this huge vessel is owned by leading global shipping company Hapag Lloyd. ‘Shanghai Lil’ as we nicknamed it is a beast of a ship, 48 metres wide and an almighty 366 metres long and was sure to make a daunting backdrop as Scott made his approach. Despite being 30 metres short of the Polo, the Shanghai Express still ranks as one of the biggest container ships on the planet so hopefully was going to provide a spectacular back drop to Scott’s relatively tiny 8m Tushingham and Starboard Carve 133L. For mission two we tried to be more efficient and didn’t even leave home until five minutes before the scheduled departure time. We reckoned if we raced across the island we could be in Cowes, rigged and ready for a one-on-one up against this monster without having to wait around.