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Sir Mathew Pinsent sails aboard Azzam ahead of the Rolex Fastnet Race

by Sam Dulka 10 Aug 2013 09:39 BST 10 August 2013
Sir Matthew & fellow British Olympian, Ian Walker, swap tactics onboard Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Azzam © Getty Images

Volvo Ocean Race outfit returns to competitive action in UK ahead of Fastnet defence

Four-time British Olympic gold medal winning rower, Sir Mathew Pinsent CBE, joined Volvo Ocean Race 2014/2015 contender Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing on its competitive return to action in Cowes, UK this week, hoping to spur a winning formula ahead of the team's Rolex Fastnet Race title defence on Sunday.

With Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's skipper, Ian Walker, himself a double Olympic medal winner, having put the team's yacht, Azzam, through its paces in Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week's three Big Boat Races, the potential young guns onboard, who are vying for the coveted under-30 spots for Abu Dhabi's Volvo Ocean Race campaign, hoped to glean wisdom from one of Great Britain's most prolific Olympians.

Yet Pinsent - who won three of his four gold medals with rowing partner Sir Steve Redgrave - admitted that keeping up Azzam's pace for weeks on end during the nine-month Volvo Ocean Race epic would be too much for him.

"As the race went on I got used to the grinding and making sure I wasn't in the wrong place. After just a few hours though, I knew that I couldn't do this for weeks on end across oceans. Our race is six minutes, yes it is all or nothing in those six minutes, but it is six minutes. Whereas for these guys, it's hundreds and hundreds of days at sea, you can't compare the two. When we row an Olympic final, we are in our beds that night, no danger, no weather to worry about. It is very, very different and I have a lot of respect for it," said the six-foot-five rowing powerhouse from Norfolk.

With many of the world's top young sailors trialing onboard Azzam this week in Cowes, much of Walker's focus has been on the gruelling selection process needed to pick the candidates who will join him on the Volvo Ocean Race start line in Alicante, Spain next October.

And whilst Walker has one eye on defending Azzam's Rolex Fastnet Race 2011 record, the Southampton-born skipper believes pushing the crew hopefuls to the limit is top priority.

"We have to be measured in what we are trying to achieve here this week, we have over a year before the Volvo Ocean Race start and we won't be sailing Azzam, so you need to be realistic about the end goals. For us, it's all about giving some young sailors a chance; it's about Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing returning to competitive action and us taking some big steps in selecting a race winning outfit," said Walker, who has two Volvo Ocean Race campaigns under his belt.

The Rolex Fastnet Race, the Royal Ocean Racing Club's iconic 608-mile race around the Fastnet Rock which has the largest entry pool in its 89-year-history, will be the final summer test for Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.

The race starts Sunday in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Leaving The Solent through The Needles Channel, the race follows England's southern coastline down the English Channel, before rounding Land's End. After crossing the Celtic Sea, the race rounds the Fastnet Rock off Ireland's southwest coast before returning around the Scilly Islands and finishing at Plymouth. The monohull race record set by Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in 2011 is 42 hours and 39 minutes.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing will announce its full crew line-up in the first quarter of 2014, when it will also receive its new one-design Volvo 65 race yacht.

Abu Dhabi city, capital of the United Arab Emirates, will host the third 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race stopover from mid-December 2014 until 3rd January 2015.

Abu Dhabi will welcome the fleet from Recife, Brazil after one of the longest and potentially most-gruelling legs in the 40-year race history (9,707 nautical miles). The Abu Dhabi Etihad Airways In-Port Race, which was won by home favourites Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in the last edition, will take place on January 2nd 2015, with the fleet departing for Sanya, China the following day.

Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), which is behind the emirate's race campaign as well as the stopover, is pushing forward a package-strong and tourism-driven event, including a fan-friendly Destination Village on the stunning Abu Dhabi Corniche breakwater as well as a compelling entertainment programme to leverage the highly sought-after Christmas and New Year dates.

TCA Abu Dhabi is once again working closely with a number of government bodies to successfully deliver the stopover, including Abu Dhabi Sailing & Yacht Club - the Official Host Yacht Club and key partner in the roll-out of the stopover and junior sailing initiatives; the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club - Technical Headquarters, which will be home to the team areas and international television broadcast compound, and the Event Security Committee, Ministry of Interior, Critical Infrastructure & Coastal Protection Authority, Department of Transport, SEHA, Abu Dhabi Customs, Abu Dhabi Municipality and Abu Dhabi Airports Company.

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