Ian Walker News

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing won the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR), despite pulling into the port of Gothenburg, Sweden, in fifth place on Monday. The Emirates team, skippered by Walker, triumphed in the nine-month triennial race after finishing fifth in the ninth leg from Lorient to Gothenburg. The team had accumulated enough points in the previous legs to take first in the 12th around-the-world sailing competition, making it the first Asia-based crew to win. Abu Dhabi spent 148 days at sea, traveling 38,739 nautical miles over four oceans and hitting 11 ports on six continents. The team beat out six others, a much better finish than its fifth-place result in the 2011–12 race. The crew logged two stage wins, three second-place finishes, and two thirds.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing had the Volvo Ocean Race trophy within their grasp as the seven boats entered the final lap on Saturday heading for Gothenburg after a one-day ‘pit-stop’ in The Hague, reports the Khaleej Times. The Emirati crew, skippered by Briton Ian Walker, has an eight-point lead in the nine-month offshore sailing marathon and would need to finish last in the leg and accrue two penalty points to lose that advantage. Since the re-start from The Hague pit-stop on Saturday, it has been an obstacle course of exclusion zones and variable winds for the final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15. And now as the fleet approaches the northern tip of Denmark, winds have been backing and diminishing.

All-women sailing crew Team SCA have recorded their first victory of the Volvo Ocean Race, clinching the eighth leg in the Bay of Biscay off the coasts of France and Spain. The Swedish boat, skippered by Briton Sam Davies, won the eighth and penultimate 647-mile stage, from Lisbon to Lorient, by more than 48 minutes. In an impressive performance the all women team crossed the finish line after 3 days 13 hours 11 minutes and 11 seconds to take their first leg win of the Volvo Ocean Race in Lorient. Team SCA led the fleet for more than half the leg and once in pole position, then dominated. A tactical decision to choose the more offshore course as they headed into the Bay of Biscay and forecasted 30 plus knot upwind conditions paid dividends.

Spanish boat MAPFRE led the Volvo Ocean Race fleet out of Newport, Rhode Island, and into the most challenging of the remaining three legs through the North Atlantic, reports AFP. Newport was the only North American stopover on this year's race, which ends in June in Goteborg, Sweden. The stopover has been so successful that race officials have changed their normal protocol and offered the Newport organizers an exclusive two-month window to seal a deal on the next race as the only North American stopover. During the 12 day stopover, the race village at Fort Adams State Park saw 125,000 fans come through and participate in the various events taking place. That number is five times the population of Newport and five times the number of visitors that last U.S.

Chinese challengers Dongfeng Race Team, which suffered a broken mast in the previous leg, won a closely-contested sixth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race late on Wednesday. They beat overall race leaders Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing into Newport, Rhode Island, by just three minutes and 25 seconds after an absorbing 24-hour dogfight along the U.S. east coast. Skipper Charles Caudrelier took Dongfeng across the line in Newport, clear of Ian Walker's Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing entry Azzam. Team Brunel arrived third to Rhode Island, roughly 50 minutes behind Azzam, with Mapfre finishing about 35 minutes later in fourth. As of Thursday morning, Team Alvimedica and Team SCA had yet to arrive. The victory in the 5,010-nautical mile stage cut the deficit to the Emirati boat to six points.

After 19 days of sailing, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing has won leg five of the Volvo Ocean yacht Race, between New Zealand and Brazil. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing emerged victorious on Sunday after 6,776 nautical miles (nm) of immensely challenging racing in leg five to take a big advantage at the top of the Volvo Ocean Race standings. Ian Walker’s crew fought off three competitors during a “drag race” of nearly 2,000 nautical miles up the east coast of South America to be the first to arrive at Itajai, Brazil, about 400 kilometres north-east of Sao Paulo. To add the icing to their cake, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing set the new best mark for the most nautical miles sailed in 24 hours with 551 leading up to Cape Horn. "Awesome.

The fifth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race in New Zealand finally got underway on Wednesday following a three-day delay to avoid the worst of Cyclone Pam. The nine-month round-the-world yacht race was scheduled to leave Auckland for Itajai, Brazil on Sunday. The 6776 nautical mile race from Auckland to Itajai in Brazil will take roughly three weeks to complete. It will take the fleet back into the Atlantic for the closing stages of the leg for the first time since November before passing Cape Horn. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, skippered by Britain’s Ian Walker, are currently leading the overall standings ahead of the Dongfeng Race Team thanks to a better performance in the In-Port races.

Spanish boat Mapfre has claimed victory in the Auckland leg of the of the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race from Sanya, China, to Auckland. The Alicante-based yacht Mapfre edged out Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing - skippered by Briton Ian Walker - by just four minutes 25 seconds. The round-the-world challenge, in its 41st year, covers 38,790 nautical miles. The fourth, 5,264-nautical-mile leg of nine in the race, from Sanya on the southernmost tip of China to Auckland, New Zealand, has taken more than 20 days since setting out on February 8. Abu Dhabi leads the overall standings from Chinese crew Dongfeng Race Team. The Spanish crew overcame two major obstacles to claim victory in Auckland.

The Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC) is now providing upgraded oil spill response services in the mid-continent region of the U.S., including the Mississippi, Ohio, Arkansas and Missouri Rivers. Captain Ian Walker will represent the National Response Organization, which owns and operates a fleet of USCG certified Oil Spill Response Vessels, in this new endeavor.