Abu Dhabi: Buoyant Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crew members are targeting a repeat of their thrilling Leg 1 success in the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) with another victory when they set sail from Cape Town to the UAE’s capital later this month.
Ian Walker’s team survived a fierce challenge from Chinese outfit Dongfeng to win the 6,487-nautical mile first stage of the round-the-world event from Alicante, Spain, to Cape Town in South Africa on Wednesday evening.
Their yacht, aptly named ‘Azzam’ (determination), crossed the finish line 12 minutes ahead of Dongfeng in 25 days, three hours and 10 minutes.
Walker and his intrepid crew will enjoy some much-needed respite before the in-port race in Cape Town on November 15, followed by the start of the leg to Abu Dhabi four days later.
Adil Khalid, ADOR’s only Emirati crew member and the sole UAE national in the race, said: “We are ecstatic to come in first in Leg 1 and now our entire focus is to make the UAE proud in our efforts to replicate our success on the journey to Abu Dhabi. We are all looking forward to seeing our family and friends in Abu Dhabi, and we can’t wait to get there.”
The race fleet is expected in Abu Dhabi in the middle of December, when they will be given a warm welcome to their berth at a purpose-built destination village on the UAE capital’s Corniche.
The village, which will open on December 12, will be alive with entertainment, sailing and watersports, and is expected to receive more than 100,000 visitors until the fleet sets sail on Leg 3 for China on January 3.
ADOR had suffered a huge scare on Wednesday when, as they ripped across the water at speeds of up to 30 knots in the South Atlantic, a huge drop in wind allowed Dongfeng to come within a single nautical mile of the leaders.
But Walker and the team managed to hold on and battle through the less-than-perfect conditions to cross the finish line ahead of their rivals. During the highly competitive section of Leg 1, both teams were clocking up well over 500 miles per day.
“I feel quite emotional, actually. I didn’t think I would be, but those last couple of hours, Dongfeng threw everything at us,” said Walker.
“We’ve had people right on our heels for the last 10 days or so and I have to say, I really must congratulate Dongfeng for an absolutely fantastic performance.
“Before the start of the race, I said: ‘Don’t underestimate Dongfeng’, and it seems I was right. And they are only going to get better — so we are going to have our work cut out for us, that’s for sure.”
This was Azzam’s second leg victory in two VOR events, and helped banish memories of their disastrous start in the 2011/12 event, when a broken mast six hours into the first leg ended their participation in the opener.
Walker added: “The problem is we knew what Cape Town is like — it’s always chaotic trying to get round Table Mountain, so we knew that even a 10-mile lead might not be enough, so we’re very grateful to get away with it in the end.”
The remaining five boats in the fleet are expected to finish the first leg of the nine-month competition at intervals over the next three days, with the Dutch boat Brunel coming third on Thursday.
