Despite not counting towards the overall points, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crew members are determined to impress in the in-port race on their home stopover.
The team resumed competitive action this week with fourth place in Wednesday's Abu Dhabi practice race as the three-week race stopover in the UAE capital draws to a close with the in-port race on tomorrow and the leg three start to Sanya on Saturday.
After spending the festive break relaxing with their families and enjoying Abu Dhabi’s winter sunshine, the ADOR sailors are raring to get back racing and navigator Simon Fisher said the team’s mood is upbeat.
“Everyone’s had a chance to recuperate from the first two legs and enjoy time with their families,” said the ADOR navigator.
“Now they’re enthusiastic to get back to work and into racing again.”
Fisher said the ADOR crew will be sailing flat out to pull off an in-port race win to get the home crowd on the Corniche cheering – just like they did in 2012 when he and Walker masterminded a spectacular in-port-winning performance in Abu Dhabi.
“We’re all looking forward to the in-port race because this is our home stopover and we want to put on a good show for our fans here,” he said.
Local hero Adil Khalid believes a win would send the ADOR crew into the third leg full of confidence.
“I remember the noise of the crowds cheering us on in the last in-port race here we need people to come down and do the same again.”
ADOR will rest Australian trimmer and helmsman Phil Harmer for leg three to allow him more time to recover his strength after injuring his left wrist and contracting a nasty bug on leg two. ADOR performance director and five-time VOR veteran Neal McDonald will stand-in for the Australian.
The all female Team SCA received a confidence booster on Wednesday by winning the practice race, with Spanish team Mapfre also able to briefly forget their early race woes by finishing second.
Dongfeng completed the top three, with Team Brunel and Alvimedica behind ADOR in fifth and sixth respectively.
Alvimedica’s American skipper Charlie Enright said: “We weren’t really into it from the get go and if we can get back into the intensity of Alicante, I think we’ll be a bit more ready to sail.
“The gameplan was clear and we put ourselves in good positions to build the speed but we definitely could have been a little quicker.
