Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR), the professional yacht racing team backed by the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) that will contest the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, will also take on four other Volvo Ocean Race teams in the Seven-star Round Britain and Ireland Race, which starts from Cowes on the Isle of Wight today.
Run by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), the 1800-mile race, which will see a fleet of 32 yachts set off on a circumnavigation of the British Isles, is amongst the toughest in the world.
All eyes will be on the Volvo Ocean 65 class, which comprises ADOR, the all-women crew Team SCA from Sweden, the Turkish-backed Team Alvimedica, China's Dongfeng Race Team, and Team Campos from Spain. Depending on the weather they encounter along the way, the VO65s are expected to complete the non-stop race in seven days.
On Thursday, ADOR had a confidence boosting victory in the VO65 class at the Artemis Challenge charity race Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week aided by Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon and #One4Azzam Facebook competition winner, American Paralympic sailor, Keith Burhans.
ADOR navigator Simon Fisher says he and the rest of the crew, led by double Olympic silver medallist Ian Walker, are braced for their toughest challenge yet.
The race, initially set to begin yesterday from the Royal Yacht Squadron start line off Cowes in the Solent (the narrow straits between the English south coast and the Isle of Wight), was rescheduled for today due to adverse weather conditions, including the remnants of Hurricane Bertha.
Fisher said the ADOR crew is excited at the prospect of racing four other Volvo Ocean Race teams for real for the first time.
The yachts the Volvo Ocean Race teams will be racing are identical in every way - from the hulls and sails right down to the buckets they use to bail out seawater.

Source: WAM