Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR) are on the lookout for another Emirati sailor to join Adil Khalid and crew when the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race gets underway next year.
Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority’s (ADTA) Events Section Head Matthew Boucher said: “We will be having another Emirati on the boat,” citing that it was part of a Creating Heroes initiative.
ADTA Events Manager Faisal Al Sheikh added: “We are keen to have more Emirati sailors in these and other types of sailing competitions. We have already started seriously looking for the best talented sailors and forming a team.”
ADOR will still have the services of Ian Walker though, the first sailor of the 2014-15 edition to be officially announced, who admits that he was convinced to sign on as skipper again because of the new One Design yachts all teams will be using this time round.
“I had the biggest boat background in One Design sailing compared to, say, a Franck Cammas or Mike Sanderson. And I struggled with the boat in the last two races, so I’ve always been very keen on the One Design,” said Britain’s double Olympic silver medallist.
“And particularly because I’ve had to do with the commercial sides of these projects, I understand the commercial reality and the fact that if they didn’t change the rules, then there probably wouldn’t be another race! It would have been too expensive and people wouldn’t have had the time to raise the money in order to design the boat.”
Taking 10 cities in nine countries, the start of the race will see the fleet sail from Alicante in Spain to Recife on the north-east tip of Brazil over 3,421nm.
From there, the teams will sail the longest leg of the race, making their first dive into the Southern Ocean on their way to Abu Dhabi (9,707nm) before heading to Sanya in China (4,670nm).
Abu Dhabi’s Destination Village is earmarked to open for just over two weeks from December 15, 2014, to welcome the fleet who will have been sailing for roughly 30 consecutive days on Leg 2.
Boucher wants to give the local crew an especially warm welcome, and said: “We are very excited that we are the culmination of one of the most exciting legs the race has seen for a long time. We did a great job last time, but we now want to do an excellent job.”
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