Volvo Ocean Race 65 champions-elect Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing will go all-out to complete the race in style as the ninth and final leg to Gothenburg, Sweden gets underway.
Abu Dhabi’s insurmountable lead of eight points means they will be crowned the winners regardless of their position on the final leg.
However, Azzam skipper Ian Walker has said the crew will do all they can to finish the race in a positive fashion.
“We always have so much support from Abu Dhabi and internationally,” Walker said. “Every time we leave the dock, our social media sites are awash with messages from fans spurring us on.
“A podium place in Sweden would kick off the celebrations perfectly so there will be no holding back.”
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Emirati sailor Adil Khalid has rejoined his Abu Dhabi crewmates for the final leg after being forced out of Leg 8 with sickness. Khalid is set to become the first sailor from the UAE to be part of a winning crew.
“First we pass through the English Channel, one of the busiest and most tidal commercial shipping routes in the world,” Khalid said. “Then we will have to deal with strong currents and steep choppy waves in the North Sea. Finally, the approach to Gothenburg through the Skagerrak strait between Norway and Denmark is strewn with small islands and rocks, so we will need to be fully alert.”
Azzam navigator Simon Fisher echoed his skipper and crewmate by saying Azzam will push to win the final leg.
“We owe it to our backers TCA Abu Dhabi, our fans, the race organisers and to ourselves to treat this last leg like any other,” he said. “We will be racing hard like always — it’s the only way we know how.”
Leg 9, which set sail on Tuesday evening, is broken into two sections, with the fleet stopping for a short pit stop in the Netherlands seaside port of Scheveningen in The Hague on Friday, before resuming the race on Saturday in staggered intervals according to their arrivals.
The most recent update from the Volvo Ocean Race tracker had Abu Dhabi in seventh, although only 2.6nm separate the boat with leaders Team Brunel.
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