Volvo Ocean Race - Now to keep the mast in the boat and learn the rap

by Rob Kothe on 14 Jun 2015 Dockside in Lorient Abu Dhabi Racing skipper Ian Walker reminded everyone that he and his crew have not yet quite won the 2014-2015 Volvo Ocean Race.

His Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crew have almost claimed the 12th edition of this tough Round the World battle, but not quite. Just after dawn on Thursday in Lorient, a third place in the 647 nautical mile Leg 8 from Lisbon to Lorient behind.

Team SCA and Vestas Wind delivered them a lead of eight points in Volvo Ocean Race with one leg to go.

Walker said on his arrival in Lorient‘. 'It’s funny we crossed the finish line and we all went quiet. Everyone was is that it? Have we done it?

‘The race hasn’t finished. We have got another leg to do. This is no time for going nuts. We have got another leg to race and we want to do the best we can like in every race we do. It doesn’t matter if it is a Pro Am, an In Port Race, Leg 9 whatever. We always want to do a good job.

‘Don’t worry we will keep our heads switched on and try and do our best on the last leg and then maybe by then it would have sunk in. I have to say I have to thank the Tourism and Culture Authority in Abu Dhabi principally for standing by Jamie (Boag – the ADOR Commercial Manager, Phil (Allen ADOR General Manager) and I after the disappointment of the last race.

‘ To stand by us and work with us and we do work very closely on everything and then for it to come true the first thing you think about is all the decisions you have made and all the trust that has been put in you and it can be rewarded.’

It will require a major stuff up from a team that has avoid trouble all through this race for the Emirati team not to claim the overall victory. They will need to come last with two penalty points and at same time Bouwe Bekking’s Brunel will have to win.

After a lucky run so far, might Abu Dhabi suffer an unusual fate or will a conservative passage from Lorient to Gothenburg via The Hague deliver them the prize. It would seem pretty unlikely they will miss out.

There is one danger however...

Walker confessed ‘My daughters kept learning the rap to the team song so I said back in Cape Town that if we won the race I would sing the first verse of the team song at the prize giving.

We just hope Ian is practicing in his Lorient hotel room, rather than on the boat on the last leg, because if the crew take to the life rafts to get away from the noise, that could muck up their result.