Dubai: Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR) will take on four other Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) teams in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race, which starts from Cowes on the Isle of Wight on Monday.
Run by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, the 1,800-mile race, which will see a fleet of 32 yachts set off on a non-stop circumnavigation of the British Isles, is amongst the toughest in the world. Depending on the weather, it should take teams seven days to complete.
Last week, ADOR had a confidence-boosting win in the Artemis Challenge Charity Race at Cowes, with support from Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon and American Paralympic sailor Keith Burhans.
But ADOR navigator Simon Fisher says he and the rest of the crew, led by double Olympic silver medallist Ian Walker, are braced for a tough challenge this week.
“It’s going to be very demanding and particularly tough on the crew because there are lots of corners to turn,” said Fisher. “That means lots of sail changes and not much sleep.”
As navigator, Fisher will bear the brunt of the sleep deprivation as he bids to guide Azzam — ADOR’s V065 — safely around Britain and Ireland’s rocky coastlines.
“It will be non-stop from a navigational point of view,” he said. “There are lots of decisions to be made as we track around the British and Irish coast. It’s going to be about calculating optimum angles as the weather constantly changes.”
The race, initially set to begin on Sunday, was rescheduled due to adverse weather conditions.
Fisher said the ADOR crew is excited at the prospect of racing four other VOR teams for the first time this season ahead of the 2014/15 event, which starts in Alicante, Spain, on October 11 and ends in Gothenburg, Sweden, on June 17 next year, stopping in Abu Dhabi on January 2.
“It’s a big part of getting us battle ready,” he said. “It’s our only chance to get some real experience of close racing against the other teams before the Volvo starts. We expect to learn a great deal.”
The VO65 yachts the Volvo Ocean Race teams will be racing are identical. This, Fisher says, will set up the closest of races between the five crews.
“It’s five top class teams who have all been training hard,” he said. “There is very little difference in the yachts’ performances and I’m expecting the fleet to stay tightly packed all the way around. There will be no let up on Azzam until we cross the finish line in a week’s time.”
