Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s new yacht for the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015 has sailed for the first time.
The 65-foot carbon racing yacht, Azzam, was conducting sea trials along the English south coast with the crew, led by British double Olympic silver medallist Ian Walker, getting to grips with it for the first time.
Before sailing, Azzam underwent a mandatory safety test on the complex hydraulic system which controls her 4.7 metre long canting keel.
The yacht passed the test with ease and skipper Walker admitted that he was impressed with its performance.
“She’s as strong as she is beautiful; those are gargantuan loads and she shrugged them off with ease,” he said.
Azzam is one of seven identical Volvo Ocean 65 yachts being built for the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 and the fourth to take to the water ahead of the race start on October 4 in Alicante, Spain.
The ADOR sailors were unanimous in their praise of the yacht they are relying on to get them quickly and safely around the 39,000 mile course, which includes a stopover in Abu Dhabi over the 2014/15 Christmas and New Year festive season.
Abu Dhabi navigator Simon Fisher, who spent much of the first day’s sailing studying Azzam’s performance data, said he was impressed by the initial numbers.
“We were doing over 20 knots in around 15 knots of breeze today; and that’s without really trying too hard,” said Fisher.
“It’s great to get the first sailing time under our belts and it gives me a chance to start gathering valuable data from the boat.”
Azzam’s first sail saw Emirati Olympian under-30 sailor, Adil Khalid, return to action after a recuperation period with an injured hand.
Khalid, who raced around the world with ADOR in the last race, didn’t take long to get back into the swing of things and was soon at the heart of the on board action.
“It’s great to be back with the team,” Khalid said.
“The new Azzam looks as good as she feels to sail. I think we are well organised and ready to take on the challenge of the Volvo Ocean Race again, this time for victory.”
