At first glance, the windsurfers, dinghies and small yachts that raced around the buoys off the Chinese port of Qingdao during the 2008 Olympics are oceans away – in more ways than one – from the maxi sailing boats and motoryachts favoured by the super-rich for their leisurely Mediterranean or Caribbean holidays.
Only the Endeavour – the supremely elegant J Class sailing yacht commissioned in 1934 for the America’s Cup by Sir Thomas Sopwith, the British tycoon – was on station as a VIP hospitality boat in Qingdao in August to represent the superyachts.
