Putting sailing on the UAE map a greater triumph for Ian Walker

Matt Jones - Editor 09:39 24/06/2015
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  • Ian Walker holds the Volvo Ocean Race trophy alongside his dedicated crew.

    Ian Walker admits putting the UAE on the global sailing map may well be a greater triumph than Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing winning the Volvo Ocean Race itself.

    The 45-year-old Briton ranks his team’s triumph in the 2014/15 edition of the 41-year-old race and what it could do for sailing in the Emirates up there with the silver medals he won for Great Britain at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and Sydney 2000.

    – VOR: Walker hails fellow crew members after ADOR’s victory
    – VOR: Victorious Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing arrive in Gothenburg

    “The fact we have Abu Dhabi and a country behind us, it won’t really sink in until we get there and see what it means there,” said Walker. 

    “Our goal is to promote sailing there and get us on the map and I don’t think we could have done any more to do that.”

    Walker said it was an amazing feeling to hear the words Volvo Ocean Race champions follow Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s name after arriving in Gothenburg on Monday, although he paused and thought long before answering the question whether their triumph surpassed his Olympic medals.

    “The best moment of my career? That’s difficult. Olympic medals are special,” he said. “This is too and with a bigger group of people, over a longer period of time.”

    Walker, as captain, will receive much of the spotlight, but he has always been quick to point out his team’s efforts.

    The exposure of his Emirati trimmer and helmsman Adil Khalid will also have helped promote the UAE as a sailing destination – Khalid is the first Emirati to both compete in and win the VOR, while Walker is the first British skipper to win it.

    Walker always talks of the collective and says the rest of the team, navigator Simon ‘SiFi’ Fisher, six-race veteran Roberto Bermudez de Castro, Darryl Wislang, Phil Harmer, Justin Slattery, VOR debutant Luke Parkinson, on-board reporter Matt Knighton and even stand-ins Alex Highby, Louis Sinclair and race veteran Neal McDonald all deserve a share of the credit.

    “Everyone’s played a role, everyone’s had a part to play. We couldn’t have done it without everyone here,” said Walker. “So much hard work goes into it. We’ve made a lot of mistakes and we’ve learned a lot of lessons and this time round we threw all that experience in place. 

    “I said all along I wanted the most experienced guys and ones I enjoyed sailing with. I surrounded myself with good guys and it worked.

    “Neal (McDonald) is the first person I hired, the person I look up to most in sailing and someone everyone on the boat looks up to. 

    “He’s a special guy. In many ways he’s been our leader and this is also for him. We’ve got something nobody can take away from us and we can share it with each other for the rest of our lives.”

    American OBR Knighton summed up Walker’s leadership aura in his blog before Sweden.

    “Before the second half of this (ninth) leg started, Ian wanted to make one point very clear,” he said. 

    “Let’s have fun and enjoy the friendships that started over a year and half ago when we first started training for this race. 

    “We could agonise over tactical decisions and stress about sail changes but what’s the point? Many have finished their Volvo Ocean Race careers without ever winning the race – we need to take it all in.”

    ADOR have been the standout team, drawing praise from all corners of the sailing world.

    Team Vestas Wind skipper Chris Nicholson said: “Firstly congratulations to Ian Walker and the team at Abu Dhabi. You have set the standard since day one, you are great ambassadors for our sport and deserve to hold the Volvo Ocean Race trophy.”

    Race CEO and former VOR competitor, Knut Frostad, added: “It’s an inspiration and no doubt a big sporting moment in Abu Dhabi and it will hopefully inspire lot of sailors in the UAE and the Middle East to embark on sailing career. 

    “Everyone in the UAE has been following it and we have huge TV figures and it’s been on all front pages of the newspapers.”

    Frostad was not surprised by Azzam’s triumph and the Norwegian added: “I thought they were one of the teams that could do it. They were well prepared and had a good bunch of guys on board. 

    “Had Dongfeng not broken their mast (on leg five) things could have been different but all in all you have to give Abu Dhabi huge credit.”

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