Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing fired up ahead of icy southern ocean crossing

Abu Dhabi, March 14, 2012 (WAM) - Ian Walker, skipper of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing - the United Arab Emirates capital's Volvo Ocean Race contesting outfit - is confident his 11-strong crew can push for podium honours in Leg 5 of the race to Itaji, Brazil next weekend, as the team looks to get its campaign back on track after a tough first half to the Everest of Sailing'. Featuring the classic Southern Ocean high speed sleigh-ride sailing for which the Volvo Ocean Race is renowned, Leg 5 - which starts from Auckland, New Zealand on 18th March - is the longest passage in the race and throws up a new set of challenges for the six-strong fleet including sub-zero temperatures, the threat of yacht-crippling icebergs and howling arctic seas. Yet according to 43-year-old Olympian Walker, the Abu Dhabi Tourism '&' Culture Authority-backed team is relishing getting its state-of-the-art race yacht, Azzam (determination), back into the water as much of the leg will feature the outfit's much preferred downwind sailing. "We are optimistic ahead of the next leg; we under no illusions that it will be extremely difficult but it is also downwind, and that is where our strengths hopefully lie. We've still not really gone downwind, let's face it. Telefonica look like the gun boat but everyone's going to have their weaknesses at different times. We've got to hope. We've done six weeks sailing in this race so far and I think four and a half have been upwind. We have to get the spinnakers up and maybe it will be a different story. You just have to keep believing, keep trying your best and good things will happen," he added. And Walker believes that for many of the younger Abu Dhabi crew members making their global race debuts, including Emirati Adil Khalid, the first Gulf national to ever compete in the event, the rounding of Cape Horn - the legendary sailing pinnacle off South America - will be a moment to cherish. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, which currently sits fifth in the overall Volvo Ocean Race standings, is looking to continue its impressive in-port race run of form on 17th March for the Auckland showpiece, before starting Leg 5 the day after. The team - the most intercontinental to feature in the Volvo Ocean Race - has won two of the last four in-port races, including a historic home victory in the UAE capital. - Emirates News Agency, WAM