Abu Dhabi: UAE sailing superstar Adel Khalid — the only Arab sailor in the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race and an inspiration to budding Emirati mariners — came face to face with a motivational figure of his own when he shared the deck of Abu Dhabi’s Azzam race yacht with US paralympian sailor Keith Burhans.
Khalid sailed with Burhans after the 58-year-old double leg amputee from New York won a Facebook competition to join the crew of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR) — Abu Dhabi’s Volvo Ocean Race contesting squad — for a charity race off the south coast of England last week.
The young UAE sporting star was impressed by Keith’s performance aboard the stunning Azzam Volvo Ocean 65 yacht as he helped the team to a first-in-class victory in the Artemis Challenge — its first preparation race for the 2014-15 round-the-world challenge, which starts in October.
“The courage and fortitude I saw in Keith was absolutely amazing — he was pure inspiration,” said Khalid. “It was a real privilege for me to see Keith in action, and I was impressed with the fact that he does not let his disability slow him down nor stop him from performing at a remarkable level.”
“I was honoured to be able to share the deck with him for the Artemis Challenge. I learnt so much from seeing him in action and from the way he conducted himself on-board.”
For Keith’s part, he was also left with nothing but admiration for his young, albeit temporary, crewmate.
“Adel is really a fantastic guy,” said Keith, who lost his legs in a boating accident in 1995, but still went on to represent the USA at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. “I’ve got nothing but admiration for him. He’s leading the way in the Arab world for sailors — uncharted waters some might say. But after seeing him in action, I hope many more Arabs follow his lead and take to the waves.”
“I’m certainly going to keep a keen eye on Azzam and the ADOR team on Facebook as they compete in the Volvo Ocean Race. And I’ll be encouraging all my sailing friends in the US to do the same. It promises to be a thrilling race and I’ll be cheering on my recent shipmates as they challenge for the title.
“From the phenomenal professionalism I saw while I was on-board, I think skipper Ian Walker and his crew have a fantastic opportunity to take the title home to Abu Dhabi.”
Follow news of the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team and hear the latest on the Abu Dhabi stopover for the 2014/15 Volvo Ocean Race by following on Facebook, on Twitter and Instagram — @ADORlog, online at www.volvooceanraceabudhabi.com, and on YouTube.
