Walker and 'Parko' on course for Hobart-Sydney race aboard Team Ragamuffin

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing skipper Ian Walker, and fellow crew member Luke “Parko” Parkinson, join forces to take on the infamous Rolex Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race on board Australian yachting legend, Syd Fisher’s, Team Ragamuffin.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing captain Ian Walker, left, and fellow crew member Luke ‘Parko’ Parkinson will join forces on Boxing Day to take on the Rolex Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race aboard Australian yachting lShow more

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR) skipper Ian Walker, and fellow crew member Luke “Parko” Parkinson, join forces on Thursday to take on the infamous Rolex Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race on board Australian yachting legend, Syd Fisher’s, Team Ragamuffin.

The gruelling 628 nautical mile race is known as one of the world’s most challenging sailing events and is a fearsome test and a New Year launch-pad for the 10 months of intense Volvo Ocean Race preparations that lie ahead for them.

Australian Parkinson, 23, was last week appointed the latest member of ADOR which will take on the world’s greatest marine adventure, the 2014/15 Volvo Ocean Race, beginning in Alicante, Spain in October next year.

The Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) – backed team will contest its second consecutive Volvo Ocean Race with the UK’s double-Olympic silver medallist Walker at the helm.

“Sydney-Hobart is always a great challenge and a thrill for any sailor,” Walker said. “Parko and I raced together recently with Team Ragamuffin from Hong Kong to Vietnam and what I saw of him then convinced me, without doubt, that he’s the right man for our set-up.

“He has the right attitude and crucially has the ability to crew both as bowman and helm – I expect we’ll bond firmly during the Sydney-Hobart gig and get deeper insights into our individual approaches, which will help us in the months that lie ahead.”

Parkinson, who turns 24 in February and is a member of the Australia Sailing Development Squad and the Western Australian Institute of Sport for sailing, will be one of ADOR's under-30 crew members for next year's Volvo Ocean Race.

“Over the next few days there’s no opportunity to be thinking about the Volvo Ocean Race, the focus is simply on giving everything for Team Ragamuffin to try to take the honours in Hobart,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to sailing with Ian again and I’m under no illusion that it will be a very tough few days racing.

“The competition in the 100fters is stiff, and the conditions for the Sydney-Hobart always make things interesting and inevitably throw in plenty of surprises and unexpected issues to deal with.

“This is a great chance to store up more experience to bring to the ADOR team.”

Walker and Parkinson join a Team Ragamuffin that is steeped in history.

Originally launched in 1989 as Maximus, the yacht underwent a major rebuild in 2004, and was then lengthened to 100ft in 2009.

Team Ragamuffin’s legendary skipper Syd Fischer was honoured in October with Yachting Australia’s Lifetime Achievement award and at 86 years old, this year equals the record for the oldest skipper in the Sydney-Hobart race.

The fleet is expected to reach the Tasmanian port of Hobart on December 28 when, following several days of rest and recovery, Walker and Parkinson will turn their focus on the Volvo Ocean Race.

The first major ADOR milestone for both will be in February, when the full ADOR team gathers in Abu Dhabi.