After missing two legs with a stomach virus he picked up on the morning of leg four, Adil Khalid is back to help sustain Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s charge towards the Volvo Ocean Race crown.
The Emirati trimmer and helmsman, 26, was ordered off the boat and sent home just a few hours before the fleet was due to depart Sanya to Auckland two months ago.
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Despite having his bags packed for the voyage to Auckland, the UAE Olympian had been throwing up all night prior to the leg five departure, and it was decided that it would be best for both him and the team that he be replaced.
Khalid was flown home to Abu Dhabi where he spent a day in the hospital, but his illness wiped him out for around a month and as a consequence he also missed out on leg five from Auckland to Itajai.
He is now back to 100 per cent health though and flew out to South America just as ADOR arrived in Brazil, winning leg five, admitting he is now fully ready to help his team capture the VOR crown.
“Right now I’m in good shape and good health and ready for the next leg,” said Khalid.
After missing a thrilling Southern Ocean leg from Auckland to Itajai, as well as Azzam’s second place finish on leg four after he was struck down, Khalid admits he’s been working tirelessly to get back into racing shape.
“I’ve been at Sir Bani Yas at training camp. It was a good training camp. Training six hours a day and getting back to health,” said the Emirati.
“It was like being on the boat, working for four hours on, four hours off. You use the same method. Work for two hours in the gym, then have half an hour or hour break, breakfast, then go for another two hours. It helps you get ready for the watch system.
“The race will get shorter so you’re going to be awake more and working harder. You have to be fit and ready for it.”
After watching team-mate Phil Harmer suffer with illness and injury earlier in the race, the Australian himself eventually replaced for the third leg from Abu Dhabi to Sanya, Khalid knew it was the best decision to head home.
“I am looking forward to Leg 6 and sailing with ADOR again. ” @ADILsailing #inabudhabi #goazzam #VolvoOceanRace pic.twitter.com/VN5DgfgzT3
— AbuDhabiOceanRacing (@ADORlog) April 19, 2015
He said: “I had food poisoning in China the day the leg started. I’d been throwing up all in the night and woke up in the morning and said ‘I cannot go’.
“I was wiped out for two-three weeks. It took around one month to recover. You cannot do anything. You’re just living on medicine. You have to build yourself up again.
“I told them ‘look sorry guys I cannot go’, but they understood. Ian made the call because he’s the skipper.
“I did this race before so I knew exactly what would happen. I didn’t want to stop the race and jump out from the boat. It was a good decision for the team because they got someone in to replace me who was going to be a benefit to them.
“It was the right thing to do. If I’d have stayed on board I would have only been a hindrance to the team. I would have been useless. I wouldn’t have been able to grind or anything.
“It’s not about one person it’s about the whole team and winning the race. You don’t want to be sick on the boat and sick in your bed for 10 days.”
Khalid said he was around 60 per cent ready for leg five but his medical team told him he couldn’t rejoin the team.
“The doctor said save it for Itajai and you will be much stronger and now I’m a lot stronger,” he said.
“I’ve got a lot better in the last few weeks. It’s going to be very fast from Itajai, with shorter legs. 10 days, eight days, four days. It’s going to be like drag racing to the finish.”
Khalid is clearly happy to be back in the fold and ADOR skipper Walker is also delighted to have him back.
“He’s put on about 5kgs since I saw him last so he’s obviously been training hard,” said the 45-year-old Briton just hours before departing Itajai.
He added: “Adil’s delighted to be back and we’re delighted to have him back. Louis (Sinclair) did a great job but it’s always better to have the people you trained with on the boat and I’m sure there won’t be any problems.
“We’re confident that the leg will suit us and there’s no reason why we can’t be successful.”
