Signs point to happy sailing for Azzam crew in Volvo Ocean Race

Combination of good form and experience should give Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crew an edge on competition, writes Osman Samiuddin

In this handout image provided by the Volvo Ocean Race, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's new Volvo Ocean 65 skippered by Ian Walker approaches the entrance to the Solent at the end of the Round Britain and Ireland Race on August 15, 2014, off Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. Ian Roman / Abu Dhabi Ocean RacingShow less

Ian Walker paused a little before he answered the key question: “You have been in the Volvo Ocean Race [VOR] and not won, but this time could it be different?”

Walker, skipper of the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR) team’s Azzam, is a rooted man.

He is pragmatic, as he must be. He is not given to whimsy, bombastic statements, or unrealistic targets. He sees it, he calls it. So his response may raise an eyebrow or two.

“The big difference is the boat,” he said. “We’ve got a chance. Last time around, we arrived in Alicante not knowing if we had a chance or not.

“Now, with the same boat for everyone, I know that if we sail well, you will do well. If we make mistakes, we will do badly.

“One-design makes me more relaxed. It was actually the first time I was looking at the position reports when racing in a Volvo fleet and not losing miles all the time.”

Walker was talking after what may come to be a seminal moment in Azzam’s story.

He had just led his crew to first place in the Round Britain and Ireland race. It was an emphatic and historic triumph: Azzam came through the 2,900-kilometre course in a time of four days, 13 hours, 10 minutes and 28 seconds.

That was more than 30 hours faster than the previous course record.

Preparations through August have been ideal, with Azzam's record Round Britain and Ireland win coming a few weeks after the debut triumph in the Artemis Challenge at Cowes Week.

The crew now have some administrative catching up to do. Then they have a week off before they sail to Alicante. On October 4, the race officially kicks off with the in-port races a week before the first leg starts.

If Walker thinks Azzam has a chance in the 2014/15 VOR, then it may even be a good one – and it is not about how the boat performs.

In February at the unveiling of the crew he said: “Now it’s about us, the sailors, not the boat. I welcome that. No excuses.”

For years, Whitbread’s Round the World Race (as VOR was previously known) had boats of all shapes, sizes and colours participating.

It was great in a quaint, spirit-of-the-amateur kind of way and did wonders for the quantity of competitors and exposure.

But it has cried out for standardisation for years – mostly for economic reasons.

The one-design has lowered costs of participation and also, as with the Denmark-based Team Vestas, allowed entrants to come in late. Crucially, it levels the playing field.

In the 2011/12 VOR, Walker and crew had been hamstrung by the basic slowness of the Azzam Volvo Open 70 design.

This year’s Volvo Open 65 design is the same for everyone and, although Walker’s initial assessment was that it feels sturdier but a bit slower, the speed of their latest win suggests that it can still reach a fair pace.

An even better reason to feel Azzam has a chance to accomplish something special is the crew’s experience.

In sailing, experience is king and Azzam is the only boat that competed in the last race. Added to that is the fact that half of the eight-man crew – Walker, Adil Khalid, Justin Slattery and Simon Fisher – have been through this intense adventure, the Everest of ocean sailing, together before.

The accumulated experience of the crew gives Azzam 21 VORs worth of experience.

Only the Dutch boat Team Brunel, skippered by six-race veteran Bouwe Bekking, comes close to that kind of knowledge: it has 18 VORs between their crew.

Otherwise, the competition is either too fresh – such as the Chinese entry Team Dongfeng (three VORs), Team SCA (three VORs) and Team Alvimedica (one VOR) – or it is not yet fully formed, such as with the Spanish team, which is still has not yeto announce its full crew, although it has eight VORs between the ones already in.

The last team to join, Team Vestas, has also not announced its entire crew. Last week, the skipper, Australian Chris Nicholson, said he expected his crew to have 12 to 14 VORs worth of experience. Nicholson will be starting his fifth race.

These late entrants also will be short of preparation time, with just seven weeks available to Team Vestas before the race starts. Teams such as Azzam, on the other hand, have been preparing for a year.

A sailing race around the world is not football, or tennis, or any other conventional sport. It is not dependent on form.

This is a purer challenge, pitting humans – and technology – against Mother Nature and, for all of Azzam’s promise, there is just no forecasting how that will go.

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