Most work as trimmers, pulling in or letting out the sails to control the boat's speed, but the two Singaporeans have the vital extra job of translating Mas's barked instructions from English into Mandarin.

"The Chinese members are learning English quite quickly but the language barrier can make for some funny moments," Mas said.

SOCIAL HARMONY

For syndicate head Wang, language is just one of the hurdles China Team have to leap but he believes that the problems are exactly what make the team stronger and make the challenge worthwhile in the long term for China.

"The America's Cup promotes team work, entrepreneurship, innovation, social harmony; all of the things that we need in China," said Wang, who first sailed on a team-building exercise when he worked for investment bank Morgan Stanley in New York.

He sees sailing taking off in China as more companies get into corporate entertainment and as families made wealthy in the economic boom look for Western-style status symbols.

However, money is a challenge for China Team which will race the Louis Vuitton Cup against outfits such as BMW Oracle Racing, which is said to have a budget of 110 million euros. Mas said he was working with "a small fraction of that".

So far the crew have sponsorship from Spanish ceramics firm Lladro and Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer which are both trying to expand in China. The team is looking for Chinese sponsors, many of whom are already pumping money into the Olympic Games.

"The America's Cup is seen as a high-quality standard while China is known for low-cost products. Many Chinese companies now have a high level of quality so they are really attracted by the America's Cup image," said Mas.

For Wang, the problems will come and go but China's arrival in Valencia changes the face of the Cup forever.

"China is here. We are one team, one ocean, one world."