Crew member on UAE1 Abu Dhabi

Blog by Ian Walker - skipper of Volvo 70 Abu Dhabi

I woke up this morning with a few butterflies in my stomach. I don't normally suffer from nerves too badly but the next few days are crucially important for our team. It is not so much the result of the race which worries me but the performance of the boat. If I have one wish then it is to be competitive with Groupama one of the 2 other Volvo 70s in the race and the only other new Volvo 70 in the race. Their team has been training for much longer than ours and they have had their new boat in the water far longer so we expect them to be far more developed but we still hope to be able to line up well with them. We know we have much more to get from our boat and team but for sure we will learn a lot about our potential. Personally I want to make a good clean start and avoid any trouble in the first hour. We will have some very big boats on our line and a strong tide to contend with - matters are made worse when the fleet get funneled through the very narrow gap at Hurst Castle. It is a fantastic backdrop and the thousands of spectators will be in for a real treat. Looking at the forecast for the race it could be very quick. I suspect Speedboat more than capable of breaking the record and we hope to be not too far behind. It is going to be a fast and wet ride from tomorrow onwards. Right now we are running final system checks on engine, generator and keel systems. Everything is loaded and ready. Azzam is as ready for her racing debut!