Six athletes representing the Chinese Paralympic sailing team are competing in all of the three events in the competition.

Jia Hailiang and Yang Xiujuan of the two-person SKUD 18 are now positioned in the fourth place after five races.

The Chinese team features the youngest sailors of all the 80 competitors, with Xu Jingkun of the three-person Sonar born in 1989 and Yang Xiujuan of the two-person SKUD 18 born in 1988.

The competition is described as struggle among the best, with gold medalists in Athens and Sydney returning to defend their titles.

"We will try our best to achieve good results," said Su Li, the head coach of Chinese Paralympic sailing team.

"Our aim is to learn from the world's strong teams and work hard to close the gap. I hope we can reach the top six in one or two events," said team leader Yu Huawu.

Of the six Chinese sailors, five are from Qingdao.

Paired with Yang Xiujuan, Jia Hailiang, 42, the oldest on the Chinese team, has a good chance to grab a medal for China.

The duo won a silver medal at the 2008 IFDS (International Association for Disabled Sailing) World Championship, the best result for the Chinese disabled sailing team.

"I hope the gold medal won by Yin Jian at the just concluded Games can bring us good luck. We will give our best in this competition," Jia said.

Jia joined in Chinese sailing team in 2005, and in 2007 he skippered the two-person keelboat with Yang Xiujuan.

Disabled sailors have to work harder than the able-bodied in their training due to physical challenges, inflammation and other problems.

"When I first got aboard the boat, I was so dizzy that I couldn't tell the direction. At the beginning I trained three hours a day, but now I train six hours a day," the 20-year-old Yang Xiujuan said.