Abu Dhabi: After chasing his dream for over nine months, Volvo Ocean Race-winning skipper Ian Walker woke up to a dawn where his dreams had been realised after eight long years of relentless pursuit. The sense of accomplishment has certainly sunk in by now and the relief is quite evident.
Though the mission has been accomplished, the voyage is not quite over yet. The desire to be among his loved ones — for whom the wait has been equally daunting, to say the least — was evident but he can look forward to that prospect only once Saturday’s Inmarsat In-Port Race Gothenburg is dealt with.
However, Walker’s immediate plans are very much in place and a much-needed leisure break with family will soon follow after the celebrations in Abu Dhabi.
“I think my next appointment is rescue boat duty at Junior Fortnight sailing with my kids,” he said at a press conference on Monday after his fifth place finish in Leg 9 to Gothenburg sealed the 12th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.
“I’m going home for the summer — my kids want their daddy back,” said the 41-yr-old who tested uncharted waters way back in 2008-2009 when he was offered the chance to skipper a joint Chinese-Irish venture, Green Dragon.
That season was more of a learning curve for Walker and his crew and they were never in contention. In 2011-2012, he had switched loyalties to Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Volvo Open 70 but on board Azzam they were still among the back markers and that campaign too ended in disappointment.
However, with his never-say-die attitude, Walker decided to give it everything in the 2014-15 season as Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing reposed faith in him. This time, they were clearly on an even platform as all the boats were built based on one design. Walker had the best crew at his disposal — renowned navigator Simon Fisher from Britain, Irishman Justin Slattery, New Zealander Daryl Wislang, Phil Harmer of Australia and local lad Adil Khalid, who was raring to make a mark.
“I did my first Volvo Ocean Race two editions ago and I really wasn’t sure if I’d be up to it. I wondered what the Southern Ocean would be like, lots of self-doubt, and it’s been a long, old road,” said a beaming Walker, adding that, all the experience of the past helped him and his team to turn things around in their favour.
“We’ve made a lot of mistakes and we’ve learned a lot of lessons. This time round, we threw all that experience in place, surrounded myself with good guys and it worked.”
Walker was of the view that the success would do a world of good for Abu Dhabi and the sport as a whole in the Middle East. “It’s a big deal. A big part of what we’re trying to do is try to popularise the sport there and get young Emiratis sailing.
“The best way we could do that was to win the race.”
