DONGFENG Race Team made history in the 41 years of the Volvo Ocean Race on Tuesday when they emphatically won the third leg of nine from Abu Dhabi to Sanya, south China’s Hainan Province.

The team is the first from China to win a leg, finishing the 4,670-nautical-mile race in 23 days and 13.5 hours to move into the overall lead.

China entered the race for the first time with Dongfeng (wind from the east) launching in 2013. The team has 15 sailors including six Chinese although race rules only allow for a crew of eight for each leg of the race.

The 5,264-nautical-mile fourth leg is from Sanya to Auckland, New Zealand. It begins on February 8.

The Volvo Ocean Race is one of the world’s three elite sailing events along with the Olympic Games and America’s Cup. For the 2014-15 season, seven teams are battling it out over nine months of racing that takes them to 11 ports around the world.

Two of the team’s Chinese sailors were in Shanghai last month after participating in the first two legs — the first from Alicante, Spain, to Cape Town in South Africa and the other from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi. Team captain Charles Caudrelier, a native of France, decided to rest both of them for the third leg.

The Volvo Ocean Race

• Seven teams battle it out during the nine-month 2014-15 season: Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing from the UAE; Team Alvimedica, the US/Turkish youth challenge; Team Brunel, the Dutch campaign; Dongfeng Race Team, a Chinese entry; Team SCA, the all-female team; MAPFRE from Spain; and the Danish entry, Team Vestas Wind.

• All teams use the one-design Volvo Ocean 65. One design means all boats are built identically and cannot be modified in any way by the teams.

• Boats cover 38,739nm (71,745 kilometers), crossing four oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Southern) and visit 11 countries on five continents — Spain, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, China, New Zealand, Brazil, United States, Portugal, France, the Netherlands and Sweden. Each host port stages a festival lasting around two weeks.

• This year, the crew size has been reduced from 11 (10 plus one onboard reporter) to eight plus one non-sailing multimedia reporter. All the women’s teams are allowed three extra crew (11 plus one onboard reporter) to ensure a fair competition.

Chen Jinhao (Horace Chen), 22

From Shantou, Guangdong Province

Flowers may bloom again but a person never has a second chance to be young — this is a proverb Chen Jinhao has used for motivation in becoming a professional sailor.

The 22-year-old Guangdong Province native has grown up by the sea and spent his leisure time in and around the water since he could swim.

His professional training began early in life and it seems as though he has always known his destiny connected with sea.

Captain Charles Caudrelier describes Chen as “a born leader with heaps of potential.”

Chen has competed in the national sailing championship several times and describes 2011 as a “lucky year.” He says he had an encounter with Hong Kong-based yachtman Frank Pong, who hired him as a crew member aboard his 77ft yacht, opening the 18-year-old to new possibilities.

Under Pong’s watchful eyes Chen later went on to compete in the America’s Cup World Series and Extreme Sailing Series. He also learned sail making with Hong Kong-based UK Sailmaker due to a recommendation from Pong.

“I heard about the Dongfeng Race Team campaign through the grapevine,” Chen says. “At first I didn’t believe it because offshore sailing in China isn’t popular. I thought ‘how could China have its own team already?’ When I realized it would be a mix between professional foreign and Chinese sailors, I knew my time had come.”

Chen is a barman due to his physical strength and sail-making knowledge.

“I remember pulling ropes during a hailstone with my bare hands,” he says. “My hands were soon torn and I only realized it when seeing blood on the rope. But there was no time to stop for treatment.”

He says simple things like eating, sleeping and even walking are much more difficult on a boat.

“It feels like we are having an earthquake throughout the day, and sometimes it can be worse than an earthquake,” Chen adds.

Sailors have to adjust their hammocks to suit the boat’s angle of inclination and “a big wave can throw us out of bed.”

The crew takes turns resting. After four hours of work, one goes into the cabin for two hours of standby duty. They then get to sleep, if possible, for two hours. Relaxing completely is difficult due to the roughness of the open sea.

Food is another hardship, especially in the late stages of a voyage as they boil sea water to make porridge with dehydrated ingredients.

“There are usually only four or five flavors of dehydrated food during a one-month voyage,” he says. “We have to eat for the energy even though it doesn’t taste great. I often dream of a bowl of beef noodles when I’m not busy.”

Despite the challenges, Chen says the ocean is inspiring and incredibly beautiful, providing sights not seen on land.

“The sea can be a real beauty,” Chen says. “I’ve never seen such a bright night sky and the sunrise and sunset around the equator are also astonishing.”

Like other Chinese members of the team, Chen hopes China will earn an important position in the offshore sailing world in the near future.

“We are thankful to our experienced foreign sailors because they have taught us so much,” Chen says. “They also know we carry the dream of building Dongfeng into a pure Chinese team in the future. They are helping us toward the goal.”

Yang Jiru (Wolf Yang), 24

From Anshan, Liaoning Province

Yang Jiru is a late comer to sailing.

The Liaoning Province native says he was introduced to the sport by a roommate when studying at Xiamen University in the coastal city in southeast China’s Fujian Province. Yang says he quickly became obsessed with it and smelled his chance when Dongfeng Race Team began recruiting in 2013.

He pushed his way to the front of the pack during the team’s trials with a combination of determination and intelligence.

Captain Charles Caudrelier thinks highly of Yang, who goes by the English name Wolf, which he chose to showcase his inner toughness.

“Wolf is a very smart guy,” Caudrelier says. “During the selection process he shared everything he was learning with his colleagues like a true team player, and I admired him for that.”

Cold, wet, hunger and exhaustion are the things Yang says he expected to experience before the start of the race. But homesickness is something that caught him off guard.

According to race rules, sailors only get Internet access for news from the outside world every six hours. Without a cellphone, they mostly send e-mails to family and friends. No intimate content is allowed in the e-mails as they are seen by four or five race organizers before being sent out.

“My father doesn’t work in our hometown, which means the three members of my family are rarely in the same place,” says Yang, who was part of the crew chosen for the first two legs of the race. “I miss them when I encounter hard times during the race. All I can do is suppress my emotions by staring at the sea and imagining a family reunion.”

Yang mainly plays the role of pitman on board. His fluent English means he is the “bridge” between Chinese and foreign sailors. With an interest in biology and chemistry, he is also the team’s back up “doctor.”

Gastroenteritis and wounds caused by falling are the most common sufferings of the crew.

“Bumps on the head and bruises to other parts of the body happen all the time when the sea is choppy,” Yang says. “We have a special kind of skin glue to treat head wounds. But for the arms and hands we use a stitching tool that looks like a stapler. There’s just too much motion to stitch up a wound the normal way on a ship at sea.”

Yang says all the crew have undergone safety training in Hong Kong, France and England, learning skills like how to use a fire extinguisher and how to be rescued by a helicopter.

“During the training I realized how infinitely small humans are within the scope of the sea,” Yang says.

Although there are many challenges, the young sailor says he hasn’t once regretted his decision to join Dongfeng.

“It’s easy to be spoiled in China and I don’t want to be like that,” he says. “I love my family but I am too proud to go back home. I want to carve my own path and I want to be independent.”