Ian Walker, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s skipper, is one of Britain’s most successful
sailors, with two Olympic silver medals to his name.
A father of two from Southampton, Walker was skipper and sailing manager of the
2002 British America’s Cup Team. He has accrued a wealth of sailing experience in
a two-decade career, which includes coaching the 2004 British Olympic Gold medal
winning women’s keelboat sailing team, winning the TP52 Global Championship, and
leading the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race outfit, Green Dragon – one of only three teams
to finish every leg of the event unassisted.
A member of the victorious Volvo Ocean Race 2008/09 Ericsson 4 team and a runner
up in the 2005/6 campaign aboard Pirates of the Caribbean, Jules, from the Isle
of Wight, UK, is one of the most revered navigators in top-level yacht racing.
The 42-year-old father of two brings a wealth of experience to Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.
The team will rely on Jules' excellent technical yachting knowledge, including race
meteorology, instrument systems and racing software to help push for top honours.
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's Robert Greenhalgh is one of the UK's most talented next
generation sailors, having won major championships in everything from small dinghies
to round-the-world yachts. The ability to adapt to different disciplines - whether
it is offshore round the world races or inshore windward/leeeward racing - has enabled
Robert to rise above his peers on the world stage.
A veteran of the gruelling Volvo Ocean Race, Robert had a victory and second place
finish under his belt before his early 30s, signalling him out as one of the sport's
most promising stars.
New Zealand’s Craig Satterthwaite epitomises the raw sprit of the ocean sailor.
Tough, rugged and highly-skilled, the 38-year-old Kiwi brings a wealth of experience
to his role as Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s watchleader.
As part of the victorious 2007 America’s Cup Alinghi team, as well as watchleader
for 2009 Sydney-Hobart race victors Alfa Romeo, Auckland-born Craig also brings
to the table top-tier competitive experience.
Simon's impressive Volvo Ocean Race and America's Cup expertise over the last decade
will be a major boost for Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's debut Volvo Ocean Race pursuit.
The 32-year-old Briton – a Law & Chemistry graduate – is widely regarded as
one of the brightest all-round sailors of his generation. A trimmer by trade – the
person in charge of maintaining sail shape at sea – Simon, nicknamed SiFi, held
that role in the 2005/06 Volvo Ocean Race for Dutch team ABN AMRO TWO.
In the 2008/09 edition, Simon – who started racing in 1986-87 in Cadets in Burnham-on-Crouch,
Essex – was navigator for Equipo Telefonica (Blue) - a far more comprehensive job
offering than he was previously used.
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Justin Ferris has spent the past 10 years living and breathing
the Volvo Ocean Race. Starting as a sail-maker for the winning ‘illbruck Challenge’
in 2001, the dynamic Kiwi made the step up to join the Pirates of the Caribbean
team for the first edition of the Volvo 70 class in 2005, then for Puma Ocean Racing
in 2008.
As crew and sail-maker it seems the mix of 20 years of sail-production and design
coupled with a life spent on the open seas creates the right blend for Abu Dhabi
Ocean Racing.
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s bowman Justin Slattery is not a man to be messed with -
he has one of the toughest and least envied jobs on-board.
Yet it is a job he relishes, and he has the sailing credentials to back it up. The
37-year-old father-of-one has won some of yachting’s most prestigious trophies.
Sailing as bowman on ABN AMRO One in the 2005/06 Volvo Ocean Race, Justin was instrumental
in the Dutch outfit taking top honours.
In 2004, Slattery from Cork, Ireland was bowman on American businessman Steve Fossett’s
record-breaking 2004 world circumnavigation, which he followed up the next summer
by breaking the record for the famous Fastnet Race onboard ICAP Leopard.
Wade ‘Bubs’ Morgan is as talented as he is outgoing. Having started sailing at six-years-old
in his native Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, Australia, he moved up the ranks
to become one of the country’s most promising future stars.
Standing at an imposing 6’4”, Bubs’ has sailed in two America’s Cup campaigns and
in three Maxi Yacht World Championships – experience which is a major boost to Abu
Dhabi Ocean Racing’s title hopes, and allows the team to fill the crucial under-30s
role with as much experience as possible.
Meet Adil Khalid, the 22-year-old UAE Olympian who beat more than 120 Emirati hopefuls
to earn his spot on the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crew, making him the first UAE national
to compete in this 'Everest of Sailing.'
As a nation steeped in rich maritime heritage, the search for the first UAE national
to enter the Volvo Ocean Race was always going to be a closely contested affair.
And it did not disappoint. Watch all the action and relive the blood, sweat and
almost tears.
Adil Khalid is a rising star of the UAE National Sailing Team. The 22-year-old made
history in 2008 as the first Emirati sailor to take part in the Olympic Games. In
the same year, he also competed in the Laser World Championship in Australia as
well as two rounds of the International European Sailing Championship in Italy and
Holland.
Butti Ahmed Al Muhairi is a man who knows the importance of safety and working in
a high-pressure industry. A well-head platform operator in the Umm Al Dhalakh Field
for Abu Dhabi’s Zakum Development Company (ZADCO), Butti has been in the oil & gas
field since 2001.
Butti studied for four years to get his Diploma of Petroleum Operation from the
ADCO (Abu Dhabi Company for Offshore Oil Operations) Technical Institute and in
2005 he moved across to ZADCO as an Oil Plant Operator on Zirku Island, which lies
140kms north-west off Abu Dhabi city’s coast.
Paul Willcox is one of South Africa's leading, next generation sailors with numerous
national championship titles to his name.
Paul started sailing at the age of six when his father bought him his first optimist
and the young sailor made the most of conditions in a land-locked Johannesburg,
spending time out on lakes brushing up his skills.
Nick Dana, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Media Crew Member, is one of the United States’
top young offshore sailors. Growing up in a shipyard in Newport, Rhode Island, Nick
has been involved with sailing for the better part of his life. He has also carried
a camera with him for most of it too.
In the previous Volvo Ocean Race, Nick was part of Puma Ocean Racing’s onshore team
when he discovered his passion for the Volvo 70 class and his fascination for filming
offshore sailing and the personalities involved.
Nick is also an avid surfer and views the 2011 Volvo Ocean Race as; “the most well
planned surf trip ever!”