Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR), the emirate's 2014–15 Volvo Ocean Race contester, crossed the halfway point of the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race in the lead as the fleet race toward the finish line in South Africa.
Since setting sail from Alicante, Spain en-route to Cape Town, ADOR has consistently led the pack of seven teams – often by several nautical miles.
With an average speed of 20 knots and a 2014-15 race record of 436 nautical miles sailed within a single 24-hour period, ADOR is currently sailing along the south eastern coast of Brazil before heading southeast towards the finish line.
ADOR fans have been tracking the latest movements and progress of the team's yacht, Azzam, which means ‘determination' in Arabic, through the ‘RaceTracker' tab on the official Volvo Ocean Race website.
"Our main strategy for this leg was to sail conservatively by sailing with the main fleet rather than breaking away on our own or making any tactical gambles," said ADOR skipper, Ian Walker.
Despite exiting Gibraltar in fourth place, the team was the first to spot and capitalise on a wind shift soon after, which set them up well to move into the lead as the fleet headed south over the next week.
Azzam's fight for the lead has not been easy, as the lack of normal solid trade winds in the North Atlantic Ocean meant the fleet turned south much quicker and much closer to land than normal, which resulted in a lot more manoeuvring and very little sleep for the sailors.
With more than 5,000 miles of sailing ahead of them, one of the key challenges facing the team will be sailing around the light wind zone known as the ‘St. Helena High' before turning for Cape Town.
Source: WAM