Chinese mariner Guo Chuan missing in Hawaii sea

Chinese mariner Guo Chuan sets sail of his trimaran in San Francisco, US on Oct 17, 2016, aiming to set a new solo non-stop trans-Pacific sailing world record from San Francisco to Shanghai. [Photo/IC]

BEIJING - Chinese mariner Guo Chuan trying to sail on a solo trans-Pacific voyage was missing off Hawaii, his support team said on Wednesday.

All attempts to contact the vessel had failed and a rescue organization in Honolulu has sent a searching aircraft, which found the mainsail in water, broken off Guo's trimaran, but didn't see the sailor on the deck.

Guo aimed to set a new solo non-stop trans-Pacific sailing world record from San Francisco to Shanghai. His solo sailing across the Pacific Ocean is about 7,000 nautical miles and expected to be completed within 20 days.

The current trans-Pacific speed record is 21 days, set by crews on board the Italian Maserati. When arriving Shanghai, he will be the first to finish a solo non-stop trans-Pacific sailing from San Francisco to Shanghai.

A professional sailor for over 10 years, Guo holds two world records for sailing. One is the solo non-stop circumnavigation world record set in 2013. The other is the Arctic Ocean Northeast Passage non-stop sailing world record set in 2015.