Inside story of the launch of China's first self-m

Inside story of the launch of the first self-made yacht in New China

China's first self-designed 52 foot yacht is well-designed and novel, and even now it seems to be timeless

her design and manufacturing costs are almost ignored, and the political significance of the order is greater than the economic significance

almost everyone will think that modern yachting life is an imported product from the West. In fact, Chinese literati have long enjoyed drinking, writing poems and enjoying the beautiful scenery on the boat - two of the twenty-four boats depicted in the riverside map of the Qingming Festival are pleasure boats. However, due to the "sea ban" that began after Wanli of the Ming Dynasty, and the fact that the industrial development of modern China is far behind that of the west, the manufacturing of yachts has become "backward" and "blank"

the new 5 mine and Ali speedboat surprised the high-level officials and ordered the research. At that time, the State Administration of building materials analyzed this kind of FRP material and found that it was a kind of reinforced plastic reinforced with glass fiber or its products, so it was developed and imitated

Jiangsu Changzhou FRP shipyard undertook this arduous task. This is an old state-owned enterprise. 40 years later, when global yacht companies can ensure that all soft and flexible brands enter the Chinese market where they need them, they still continue the style of "national prefix". In those dusty historical archives, you can see that China's first FRP speedboat developed by the factory was launched in 1970. The manufacture and development of this ship was top secret at that time. However, the yachts in that period were only used for military and transportation, and could not be called modern yachts in the true sense

Changzhou FRP ships have become "typical". Under the arrangement of the government, they supported some shipyards of the same nature. After more than 30 years in Changzhou FRP shipyard, Huang Zhengang (now the Secretary General of the boat branch of China Shipbuilding Industry Association), who served as the director of the Institute of technology and the deputy director of the operation, is now a white haired old man. He recalled to the yacht industry that his great task at that time was to "help other shipyards and send a journey"

the real yacht industry in Chinese Mainland has gone through more than 30 years with the reform and opening up. From 1979 to 1982, three projects started the yacht industry in Chinese Mainland

1979, Dongguan FRP shipyard received the "processing with supplied materials" project from Hong Kong trading company and manufactured eight 30 foot sailboats for export to Britain. Since 1980, China Merchants Group of Hong Kong has established a joint venture with an Australian yacht company, which was then a "foreign joint venture" company that produced traditional yachts in Shekou and was also used for export. This kind of yacht is very slow, but it takes a long time to travel. Its shape is square and very strong

the first real modern yacht designed and manufactured by China was born in 1982. At that time, Fei Ping and more than 20 other college students who resumed the college entrance examination after the "Cultural Revolution" came to the 9318 factory (now Jiangxi Jiujiang tongfangjiang New Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.) in Hukou, Jiangxi Province with their shipbuilding dreams. At that time, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (now divided into China shipbuilding industry group and China Shipbuilding Industry Group) Hong Kong Branch Hualian ship trading company undertook orders for four 52 foot luxury yachts. China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation decided to design by 708 Institute and construct and manufacture by 9318 factory. Fei Ping and other college students were lucky to participate in the first modern yacht designed and manufactured by China itself in a real sense

after the technical design is completed, it will be handed over to 9318 factory for construction design, mold making and finally yacht manufacturing. This is the most difficult time. The chief engineer of 9318 plant, Wang Qida, is the technical director, Yu Shaosen is in charge of the hull, Yang xueru is in charge of the engine, Shen naizheng is in charge of the electric steam, and Xu Gengsheng is in charge of the process

although the construction of this ship was a first-class expert in China at that time, the construction process was full of difficulties. 98% of the materials used in the construction are not available or do not meet the requirements in China, and even sandpaper and glass fiber for grinding must be imported from Europe through Hong Kong Hualian shipping trading company. Due to the underdeveloped transportation, the seller, Hong Kong Hualian, can only visit Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province for a long time, and then return to Hong Kong after asking questions

"the sandpaper used to polish the surface of the yacht is the best," recalled Fei Ping, who was then the deputy director and Deputy Secretary of the workshop. "The larger the number of sandpaper, the more delicate it is. The 150 sandpaper is already very good. Later, the 1000 sandpaper was used, like a smooth paper."

9318 factory was a military factory with strict management. The whole process of yacht manufacturing is closed, even though it is difficult for employees in other workshops of the factory to see it. The staff worked very hard, and even didn't sleep for 9 days and 9 nights. Because it was the first time to manufacture FRP molds, and the surface finish was a little lacking, Fei Ping and two workers polished the paint by hand, and he continued to work even though his hands were bleeding

stainless steel doors and windows are made from profiles, the horseshoe seats of railings are processed and polished, and the lifting ladders of swimming platforms are processed by themselves. The specific gravity of FRP could not be found out at that time, so we had to test it ourselves. All parts to be installed on the yacht are weighed one by one. "Few yacht companies are so meticulous now," said Fei Ping, who is now the general manager of aopulan yacht company, in an interview with yacht industry

the yacht power unit adopts two 300 HP caterpillar engines, with a design speed of 18 knots and an actual speed of 20 knots

after more than ten months of careful construction, the "first made" boat of this type was finally manufactured in 1982. This boat is well-made. Since then, several veteran figures in Taiwan's yacht industry have commented that it belongs to the medium and upper level in the world, and the style is even more advanced than the yacht made in Taiwan. But at that time, the 52 foot yachts were almost costless, and China National Shipbuilding Corporation subsidized millions of yuan - the political significance of this order was greater than the economic significance

as one of the few photography backbones in 9318 factory, Fei Ping took photos of the yacht with a rare color camera at that time. In 1982, there was almost no place to develop photos in Jiangxi, so Fei Ping had to go to Wuhan to develop them

since 1983, "4209" has been transported to Hong Kong via Shanghai and anchored at Wangji shipyard of Baisha Bay Yacht Club. At that time, it was also very difficult for Chinese Mainland to purchase interior decoration materials. "4209" interior decoration was completed by 708 Institute and 9318 factory sending employees to Hong Kong Wangji shipyard

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