Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR), the emirate’s 2014–2015 Volvo Ocean Race entrant, made it through a nerve-wrackingly tense run-in to the finish line to win Leg 1 of the round-the-world race from Alicante, Spain to Cape Town, South Africa on Wednesday, 5th November 2014.
Crédit : I Roman Abu Dhabi [Pics]
Ripping across the water at speeds up to 30 knots in the South Atlantic through most of the leg's last section ADOR, onboard its yacht Azzam, survived a scare with the finish line in sight, as a huge drop in wind allowed the Chinese team Dongfeng to come within a single nautical mile of the leaders.
But skipper Ian Walker and crew managed to hold on and battle through the less-than perfect conditions, to cross the finish line ahead of their rivals to take the victory. During the highly competitive section of Leg 1, both teams were clocking up well over 500 miles of 24 hours intervals.
"I feel quite emotional, actually. I didn't think I would be, but those last couple of hours... Dongfeng threw everything at us,” said Walker.
"We've had people right on our heels for the last 10 days or so and I have to say, I really must congratulate Dongfeng for an absolutely fantastic performance.
"Before the start of the race I said 'don't underestimate Dongfeng' and it seems I was right. And they are only going to get better - so we are going to have our work cut out for us, that's for sure.
"The problem is we knew what Cape Town is like; it's always chaotic trying to get round Table Mountain, so we knew that even a 10-mile lead might not be enough, so we're very grateful to get away with it in the end!"
Adil Khalid, ADOR’s Emirati crew member and the only sailor in the race is already looking to repeat the victory in Leg 2 when the fleet will sail from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi.
“We are ecstatic to come in first in Leg 1 and now our entire focus is to make the UAE proud in our efforts to replicate our success on the journey to Abu Dhabi. We are all looking forward to seeing our family and friends in Abu Dhabi, and we can’t wait to get there.”
From Orticio, Chiara
