Ian Walker quietly comfortable about Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing fortunes

The Azzam skipper is certain he has all the bases covered in the run-up to the Volvo Ocean Race, Steve Elling writes from Alicante.

Ian Walker, right, the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing skipper, is calm and collected even as the competition is about to begin. Ainhoa Sanchez / Volvo Ocean Race

Set side by side along the waterfront like pit crews at a motor race, the tents housing the teams participating in the Volvo Ocean Race were mostly a study in symmetry.

With the first race just hours away, the majority of the teams were a study in hustle, bustle and muscle, as crews scurried around, trying to solve last-minute issues with manpower and metaphorical lifelines.

One team, however, was conspicuous in its comparative silence. The Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR) team headquarters were so subdued on Thursday that Ian Walker’s mobile phone could be heard vibrating as text messages, calls and emails arrived.

The skipper of Azzam, the ADOR entry in the around-the-world race, thumbed out a text response while he answered a question. Given that stress levels elsewhere were ratcheting up, he was a study in multi-tasking control.

Two days removed from VOR’s in-port opener, Walker leaned, 44, back in a folding chair and tried to list his pre-race pressure points.

“What are my biggest concerns?” he said, parroting a query. Long pause. Scratches head.

“I feel like we’re exactly where we want to be. There is nothing that I am sitting here thinking, ‘I wish we had more of this or more of that’, or, ‘I should have hired this person or that person’. I’m very, very comfortable with where we are at. Almost too comfortable.”

Spending weeks at a time in a carbon-fibre torpedo over the next nine months will change the latter soon enough. But in a race where uncertainty is as predictable as sunrise, Azzam has targeted the crucial elements and attacked with relish.

In his second go-round running the ADOR team, the big issues were knocked down months ago, when the team formed a detailed, year-long game plan, began filling the crew and adjusting to this year’s standardised Volvo 65 boats, which all seven teams will use.

Sailors often have to zigzag their way through the wind, but Azzam has rarely deviated, plotting a direct course to a finish line that is nine long months away with a remarkably meticulous preparation period.

“It’s almost like when you have studied for your exams,” Walker said. “You have done the revision and now you are quite looking forward to the exam, looking forward to the result. We’re right where we wanted to be and, hopefully, that’s in the right place.”

In addition to 18,000 nautical miles of boat debugging completed over the past few months, Walker has carefully constructed a crew and engaged in weeks of mind-numbing arithmetic research.

In fact, when Azzam hits the water tomorrow for the in-port exercise, which will not count in the cumulative race totals, the boat will stand as testament to the importance of algorithms and biorhythms. Maths and morale will be crucial cogs, especially with the boats being identical in design.

After experiencing chemistry issues in the VOR three years ago, character and camaraderie become key issues for Walker. Some general managers in sport are forced to decide between ability and chemistry.

Walked opted for a third quality. “The key word across any team, in my opinion, is respect,” he said.

“You can be best of friends, or maybe even not get on, but as long as you respect each other as a person and professionally, you will be all right.”

Some run their ships with unbending autonomy, but Walker weighed input from the sailors hired as he went along.

“You slowly grow the team from a small nucleus,” said Walker, whose eight-man sailing crew includes six nationalities. “I think if you look at our team we definitely get on well and we can play to that.

“It was one of our problems last time, because the boat wasn’t as fast as we had hoped and we had a few setbacks. It put a lot of pressure on people, because you have people who really were there to win, and then you’re not winning. Do you throw the towel in or do they redouble their efforts, or do you start the blame game or aligning yourself so that you’re not seen as the one who made a mistake?

“The relations weren’t strong enough in times of adversity. I think that this time around, we’re going to be very, very strong.”

Azzam spent weeks at sea, compiling baseline data for their on-board computers, and hired a French data analyst to crunch the numbers. The team amassed a database that weighs sail selection, sea state, wind speed and sailing angles. Armed with the latest weather forecast, the computer spits out the projected fastest route.

Data was recorded five times per second and catalogued, somewhat akin to Formula One telemetry.

On identical boats where everybody is seeking to exploit the smallest advantage, ADOR has invested in technology.

“We’re not going around a grand prix track,” Walker said. “It’s a lot more complicated than that. We’ve got a moving surface.”

At the moment, Azzam is figuratively on terra firma in every way.

“I’ve been saying this for weeks,” Walker said. “I don’t use the word confident, though I guess I am confident. I use the word comfortable.”

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