First shot across the bow from Abu Dhabi

Ian Walker's team comes out on top in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race

The Ian Walker skippered Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing fired a huge warning shot across the bows of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet followed her monohull victory in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's Volvo Ocean 65 Azzam, crossed the finish line off the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes at 22.20.28 BST on Friday 15 August in an elapsed time of 4 days, 13 hours, 10 minutes, 28 seconds, smashing Franck Cammas and the Groupama VO70's monohull record set in the last race by more than 30 hours.

The strong downwind conditions abated just before dawn, as Azzam approached The Lizard. The wind began to fade and to the south of the Isle of Wight, the Abu Dhabi VO65 crew was confronted by a tactical decision - to go inshore at St Catherine's Point or head offshore looking for breeze.

Azzam went inshore while Team Campos, having closed to 15 miles astern stayed offshore. For several hours, Team Campos, skippered by Iker Martinez closed the gap, coming within ten miles of Azzam still with good boat speed. Anxious that the Spanish would sail around them, Walker headed directly away from the finish, in search for any sort of breeze and luckily the tactic worked: Azzam found a good line of breeze and entered the Solent, only to come to a grinding halt as the tide turned against her. She finally ghosted across the line to take the win.

"The finish couldn't be much different to the first three days," commented Walker. "The last 12 hours were so painful trying to get to the finish line, but we still beat the record by over a day, so fantastic. It was really tough. The first few days were really hard and we have been pushed very very hard by the Spanish. I think when we managed to get away down the Scottish coast; we made a big gain and we needed it. I have a feeling there is going to be a lot more close racing over the next year. The Spanish team sailed really well and were a bit quicker than us on the run. Everybody was in it down the English Channel at the start. The beauty of this one design is that you make one little tiny mistake and you lose distance. We were really pleased to grind it out and get seven miles ahead by the top of the course."

Walker also praised Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's shore crew: "We have good people and we have trained well and you have to 'big-up' the shore team as well, because we have had very little go wrong with the boat and when you are moving at such a speed in a race, even if a little thing goes wrong, you lose miles. The boat preparation was close to faultless."

On the way around Azzam suffered a hydraulic leak and a malfunctioning water-maker, a relatively small job list given the brutal conditions she experienced. The harsh weather took more of a toll on the boat's crew with two crew members suffering injuries: Phil Harmer has a suspected broken hand while Justin Slattery has a rib injury.

"The race crew have got a few bumps and bruises," conceded Walker. "Sail changes were excellent and Si Fi (navigator Simon Fisher) didn't put a foot wrong all race. The first 48 hours were brutal - it has been really hard on the body and there is not much left of our hands. A few guys need to get some x-rays in hospital, but nothing that won't get fixed before the start of the Volvo Ocean Race.

"However, mentally nothing has been as tough as the last 12 hours. It's going to be a close battle in the big race to come and looking at the battle for third behind us in this race, everybody is going to have their day in the sun. This win is great for the team, it shows us that we are on the right track and really pleasing. This race has been a great test for our main event and it is always better to win than lose."

Team Campos, skippered by Iker Martinez, finished 2 hours 22 minutes and 23 seconds behind Azzam  to claim second place. This was a fine performance by the Spanish Volvo Ocean Race team considering it had only picked up its VO65 for a month prior to the start of the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race.

Martinez commented: "Azzam has set the bench mark, so at least now we know where it is and we have seen where we need to get to. Their boat handling is better than ours, but that is understandable as we have only had the boat for a short period of time. We did have some electrical problems which did not help us, especially with navigation, but congratulations to Azzam."

The Franco-Chinese crew on Dongfeng arrived a further four hours later at 04:40 BST in an elapsed time of 4 days 19 hours 38 minutes and 36 seconds.

“This race has allowed us to see that we are competitive, which is very interesting,” explained skipper Charles Caudrelier. “I’m so proud of the Chinese guys, they were worried about being seasick but they were not. They are more and more natural onboard and have good reactions to situations. If we carry on like this we will perform well in the Volvo Ocean Race. They have come so far and when I think about everything they have done, they are only getting better and better. They are impressive. The more they do, the more they like it – we must remember, it’s not easy to become a Volvo Ocean Race sailor in 6 months.”

“Worried? Not anymore,” commented Chinese crewman ‘Wolf’ Yang Jiru. “We are young, we have a different personality and we have built a team from nothing and half a year later here we are. Third place in the Round Britain and Ireland Race. I think it’s very good and we are still working hard and will continue to work hard. We hope that with our spirit and determination we will close the gap of inexperience we have next to the other teams.”

Dongfeng Team Director Bruno Dubois commented on how far the team has come, but more importantly how much is left to achieve. “I am impressed by what they managed to learn and achieve so far. We set the bar quite high and we can’t for sure expect in 6 months the same result as sailors who have done this for 10 years … But they do the job well onboard… and I think the difference will be in the details. Details that we don’t see on the day-to-day sailing but more in the long run. These boys have the right attitude. We’re getting there.”

Team Alvimedia finished at 05:59:47 followed just 11 minutes later by the all-female crew on Team SCA at 06:10:39.

Team SCA's Dee Caffari and skipper Sam Davies broke their existing women's round Britain record established in June 2006 on Caffari's IMOCA 60 Aviva. Caffari commented: “It was a pretty full-on ride around doing the trip in less than five days, which was awesome, everything is really good on the boat which is great but maybe also a sign that we could push harder next time. It is really nice to break the record again with Sam, and a great group of girls who worked hard to make it happen."

Team SCA lost out on its easterly route off the East Anglian coast and they spent the following couple of days clawing their way back into the mix. But rounding St Kilda, to the east of the northern Scottish coastline, the crews’ tactics paid off and they made a 30 mile gain and crossed in front of Team Alvimedica. From there a private match race continues for the remainder of the race with the Turkish-flagged VO65.

“The fact that we caught up was a huge achievement for us, after the first day we did not think we would have a chance like that. We got lucky and the girls made some good navigational decisions at the top. We made some big gains and then unfortunately missed out on a few shifts with Alvimedica, but we were right there with them and that is really encouraging,” said Sara Hastreiter.