Given how much of himself he had invested in the project over five years and two races, it was inevitable that Ian Walker would feel a tinge of sadness at the news that Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's (Ador) Azzam was no more.
Last week Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) announced that Ador would not be taking part in the next race in 2017-18, ending a successful two-edition involvement which saw Azzam clinch a historic overall race win this time last year.
Walker skippered over both races but was a much more influential figure than that, effectively the chief executive of Ador while it lasted. He was involved in all decisions, from recruitment of crew to major on-board calls, unable to switch off either during the long preparation or the nine-month race itself.
So a little disappointment was understandable. “For sure it’s disappointing because we put so much energy into building up the team and the brand,” he told The National.
“Particularly with winning the race we developed quite a strong bond with the region, yacht clubs in the region, and it’s been a big part of my life for five years. You can’t stop something like that without having some sadness.”
See also:
• Osman Samiuddin: Volvo Ocean Race withdrawal marks end to a great chapter in Abu Dhabi's maritime story
• Ali Khaled: Emirati sailing champion Adil Khalid intent on flying the UAE flag at Olympics once again
• Osman Samiuddin: Hard part for Abu Dhabi was winning Volvo Ocean Race – hardest part will be building on it
Walker was informed of the decision a couple of days before it was made public and one of his first jobs was to communicate the news to the rest of the team. He will see a few of the team this week while sailing in Sardinia.
“Most of the crew were pretty keen to do the race again with Ador,” Walker said. “They were sad, I guess, but some of the emails back also said what a great adventure and experience it had been.
“That was one of the difficulties that it was going to be very hard to follow up what we did. The winning team or sponsor generally doesn’t do the race again and part of that is because it’s very hard to follow that up. It would’ve been very easy to do worse in the race and very, very hard to surpass what we’ve done.”
The second, winning campaign thrust Walker into the limelight. He won several prestigious industry awards, including the Yachting Journalists’ Association Yachtsman of the Year award, considered to be akin to a knighthood of sailing.
He also skippered a celebrity boat for a five-day charity challenge called "Hell on High Seas" for the BBC's The One Show. Alongside the two Olympic silver medals he won, in 1996 and 2000, the win confirmed his place as one of the great British sailors of his generation.
“For me personally, it’s been relatively defining,” he said.
“It’s been 20 years since I won my first Olympic medal and I’ve done a lot of sailing since then and I’ve had a reasonable amount of success, but nothing on a par with winning the Volvo Ocean Race.
"That said, winning that is not really a personal achievement like an Olympic medal. It is really a team achievement and I'm a fairly small part of that team. I think we can look back on obviously a lot of success, but I'm also proud that Adil [Khalid] was on the team in both races.
“We did a lot of things the right way, we went about things in the right way, we represented Abu Dhabi in the right way and we did everything we set out to achieve.”
After the win last year, Walker had said he would take some time before deciding on his own involvement in another race. And though he was keen for Ador to participate again, he was not sure what role he might take in that.
In the short-term, in fact, he is relieved he does not have to make a decision on whether he will skipper on-board again, or whether he takes a role away from the boat itself.
The race, he said, gets into the blood and so, though he has been getting back to a lot of in-shore sailing recently, another tilt at the world’s most gruelling race is not ruled out.
“Obviously we have a lot of experience both in managing a team and winning races on the water. So it would be a real waste to not use that knowledge and experience in some shape or form. Now we’re back to ground zero where we either try to find another sponsor or another team could approach us for our help.”
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