Olympic medal-winning skipper Ian Walker, fromAbu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR) – the emirate’s Volvo Ocean Race contesting squad – recently took time out of his hectic schedule while he was in Cape Town, asthe team prepared for Leg 2 of the race to catch-up with students at The British School Al Khubairat via a video call.
The students, some of which had previously met Walker and Emirati sailing superstar Adil Khalid during a school visit last September, were keento hear all about ADOR’s latest sea challenge onboard the sleek ‘Azzam’ VO-65 yacht.
“Ian is an inspiring person. The way he looks at the challenge of racing a boat around the world and wants to give it a go even though it is really hard – he is incredible,” said 11-year-old Leo Biffen.
Fellow student, VendantKhama, also 11, was equally impressed as the ADOR skipper fielded questions
“It was really a great opportunity to be here in school and talk live to such an amazing professional sailor,”said Khama.
The school’s Head of Geography, Nigel Davis, now plans to use Azzam’s progress around the world to enhance his lessons, and was full of praise for the sailing team’s efforts.
“Once again ADOR came through for us. It was great to see the kids so excited, asking so many questions,” he said. “The idea now is to use the onlinetracker to keep a close eye on Azzam and make sure the students learn about the different regions and countries, as they sail along and hopefully cheer them on to victory.”
Walker finished by inviting everyone to godown to the VOR Destination Village on the Corniche and cheer Azzam into Abu Dhabi in mid-December.
