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country and, I suppose, I feel this more keenly than ever now that I’m a father myself,” he says. “It’s also great to be able to tell people around the world about Abu Dhabi and the UAE because sometimes they have the strangest ideas about it. When they find out about our beautiful waters and the great winter climate, which is ideal for sailing, they’re keen to know more.”
Leading the crew Another star of the crew is skipper Ian Walker. The Englishman is one of Britain’s most successful sailors, with two Olympic silver medals and a host of other accomplishments
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under his belt. As well as bringing much offshore sailing experience to the team, Walker has proven himself as a manager, leading the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team to victory in a number of in-port races and during legs of the 2011/12 competition, finishing in fifth place overall. This year, the crew’s racing season kicked off to a good start when they won the Round Britain and Ireland Race, beating the previous record for the course. After this warm up, they went on to take the lead in the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race from Alicante to Cape Town. Now, the focus is on Cape Town to Abu Dhabi. “This time round, we really want to be the first boat into Abu Dhabi,” says Walker “That’s going to be really difficult because the leg here from Cape Town is fraught with difficulty. It really is man against man and team against team. The ocean is the referee.” Fortunately, greeting the teams in Abu Dhabi will be a 23-day festival between December 12 and January 3. Over 200,000 visitors are expected to flock to Abu Dhabi’s shores, where they’ll be treated to top-class entertainment such as concerts by famous musicians, screenings of the BBC’s Blue Planet in Concert, hospitality events, familyfriendly activities in the Destination Village on the Corniche and much more. The highlight of the festival will see the sailing teams compete in an in-port race on
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5 Ian Walker 6 A natural pearl 7 Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing
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January 2, before setting sail to their next port of call, Sanya in China. “Last race, the stopover was very well received,” Walker says. “This year, the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority [TCA Abu Dhabi] has tripled its efforts. They have very ambitious targets in terms of visitor numbers so they know they have to raise the bar and I’m very confident they’ll do it. I know a lot of the initiatives and I’m looking forward to the stopover. I alone have about 30 or 40 friends and family coming so there’s quite a buzz about it.” With regards to winning the race, the team is optimistic: “I was very confident at the end of our training period because I know we’ve got good people both in the sailing team and the shore team,” says Walker. “We’ve done the race twice before so I think our organisation is very good. We’ve got a very clear plan and strategy. If you’ve not done the race before, you don’t really know what the first leg is going to be
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