Braving the China Sea in a thrifted yacht and motley crew, all in the name of sustainability

Features

Published: 08 Apr. 2024, 06:01 Updated: 08 Apr. 2024, 13:54

Braving the China Sea in a thrifted yacht and motley crew, all in the name of sustainability

Korean artist Song Ho-jun's yacht sailed 18 days to get to Hong Kong to participate in this year's Rolex China Sea Race that kicked off on March 27. Song's team of eight sailors - Team Random () - was the first Korean team to compete in the race. The team was sponsored by Bungaejangter, Korea's online secondhand trading app. [BUNGAEJANGTER]

HONG KONG — On April 19, 2013, Korean artist Song Ho-jun, 45, launched a homemade $500 satellite into space at the international space launch site in Kazakhstan, becoming the world's first individual to do so. Though he doesn't know what ended up happening to his satellite OpenSat, whether it's still drifting in orbit or burnt to a crisp, Song said his main objective in the first place was “to show the world that there's someone who actually brings an idea into action no matter how foolish they may seem.”

Eleven years later, on March 27, Song set sail on a new adventure, competing in this year's Rolex China Sea Race 2024 in Hong Kong with his own boat, again becoming the first Korean to do so.

The race, with a 62-year history, is known for being one of the most tactical and challenging offshore races, attracting many of the world's best sailors and yachts to Hong Kong.

The race is hosted by the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club and sponsored by Rolex. Since obtaining the qualification to compete in this category 1 race — meaning long distance and offshore sailing where your yacht must be completely self-sufficient and able to withstand storms and serious emergencies — doesn't come easy, it was a surprise for Song and even the organizers themselves that the Korean team and Song's modest-looking yacht would have a chance. But the artist wanted to challenge the prejudice and show that he can make what others called a "crazy idea” into a reality.

Even Song's seven other crew members, who competed in the race as Team Random (), said they half doubted that they would be able to finish the race. For one, the yacht that Song purchased secondhand in 2021 was not meant for racing — it was one of those so-called furniture class yachts that people often purchase for leisure after retirement.

And more than half of the crew members in Team Random () were not professional sailors: Song only took up sailing as a hobby several years ago, Choe Sang-back is a music producer, Timothee Franco is a French photographer living in Korea, Kim Tae-ho used to work for a fintech company up until joining Song on this journey and Cho Byoung-chan dreams of sailing around the world, but is busy making ends meet by teaching scuba diving. Kwon Tae-woo and Kim Young-ho are the two oldest members in the crew who are most experienced. But Kim said his wife told him “half seriously and half-jokingly” to sign a divorce paper if he wants to go on this race after hearing how challenging and dangerous it can be for amateurs.

But that did not stop Song and he managed to pursuade his team. Song's motivation for entering the race was largely to get across the same message as before, but this time with an added value: sustainability.

On the day of the race, sailors of the other 20 boats looked all set, donned in their team uniforms, leisurely taking monumental photographs and being interviewed by different media. However, as newcomers to the race, Team Random () seemed to be on pins and needles, jumping around here and there and busy doing last minute safety checks on their yacht that Song described as "a Hyundai Elentra parked next to Ferraris and Porches — not that I'm looking down on the Korean automobile.”

"What I mean is that my yacht, compared to all the others competing in the race, is a slower one,” Song said.

"It'll be great if Team Random () wins the race, but that's not the whole reason we are here,” he added as he hoisted a sail with the logo of his sponsor, Bungaejangter, one of the country's largest online secondhand trading apps.

Korean artist Song Ho-jun sells many of his preowned things on Bungaejanter to come up with money to buy himself a yacht. [BUNGAEJANGTER]

To come up with the money to buy the yacht, he launched the “Song Ho-jun Yacht Project” on Bungaejangter, also known as Bunjang. On the platform, he put many of the collections that he had accumulated at his studio up for sale, including tools and equipment he had purchased to make the DIY satellite over a decade ago. He managed to earn around 41 million won ($30,340) by giving new life to his stuff that was doing nothing more than collecting dust, then got a loan from the bank to cover the rest of the sum to purchase the yacht for a little over 100 million won.

Witnessing what this eccentric artist was doing on her platform, Choi Jae-wha, CEO of Bungaejangter, thought there was no better way to actively show their support for sustainable consumption, which her company has advocated for since day one, than by backing Song.

“People continue to find new tastes and develop new interests every now and then. But it’s impossible for us to purchase new things whenever we go through that process,” Choi said.

“Sustainability has become a buzzword on all fronts, and consumption should also be sustainable. ‘To make consumption sustainable by giving second life to everything; waste nothing for the planet and your lifestyle’ — we take this very seriously, and this was a great opportunity to speak about it out loud through Song, especially when he’s in a race of one of the most sustainable sports.”

For the Rolex China Sea Race, yachts have to sail from Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor, across the South China Sea to Subic Bay in the Philippines, for a total of 565 nautical miles — without a motor.

Clockwise from left, Choe Sang-back, Cho Byoung-chan, Kim Young-ho, Seo Kyoung-seok, Kwon Tae-woo, Timothee Franco, Kim Tae-ho and the yacht's skipper Song Ho-jun. Team Random () pose for a photograph after arriving at the Philippines’ Subic Bay on April 2. [BUNGAEJANGTER]

Team Random () reached the Philippines’ Subic Bay on their seventh day of sailing, just as they had anticipated. Having witnessed three teams drop out before or during the race, Song said it’s “a miracle that [his] team successfully and safely ended the race.”

“We experienced a number of moments where we got cold feet, like when a sail ripped right after we departed and the one we replaced it with ripped again about halfway into the race, water backing up from the sink and flooding the boat, as well as issues with the rudder. But we managed to overcome all those obstacles and finish the race. I just can’t believe it,” Song told the Korea JoongAng Daily on April 2, right after reaching the finishing point.

Though the race is over, Song says it only signals the start of his grand project.

“Most of the teams that participated in the race this year said they all felt the climate was abnormal,” Song said. "Many of them compete in this race regularly, and they said it was especially unusual this year. The race gets held around this time because April is a windy month. But we hardly had any wind and it was unusually warm. This was global warming. We were able to experience it, witness it and document it on tape.”

Crew member Seo Kyoung-seok is a documentary producer with expertise in filming in the wild.

Song's DIY satellite [BUNGAEJANGTER]

Song said it was similar to how his satellite launch was not done for the purpose of sending back information about space or to give GPS signals. "In fact, it didn't have any purpose,” he said.

"I just put my idea into action, and the fun part of it is witnessing how new discussions get generated from it.”

That is why participating in the race with Bungaejangter, according to Song, was more meaningful, as the company strives to raise awareness about sustainable consumption.

"Making consumption sustainable” is written across Song's yacht, which is a catchphrase of Bungaejangter. Song said he wasn't too keen of it when he was first putting the phrase across his yacht, but it's now engraved in his and all the other sailors’ hearts.

"As we witnessed all the plastic waste pollution in the ocean, we got to think about all the things we buy and throw away thoughtlessly just because they're cheap. It was us who ruined the ocean, and it was us who hastened global warming,” Song said. "Many of the participating teams also raised concerns about the fate of the race.”

Will Team Random () participate in the race next year?

“Definitely,” he said. “But first, I'll have to log into Bunjang and probably sell this yacht along with some more of my preowned stuff so I can come back with a faster racing yacht.”

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]