Volvo Ocean Race entrant, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and its history-making Azzam (determination) Volvo 70 race yacht, will return to top level competition in the UK this August.

A fortnight of training and competitive sailing will culminate in the defence of its Rolex Fastnet Race title. Having made history as the first Arabian contender in the global, nine month 2011/12 Volvo Ocean Race, the team lead by skipper Ian Walker, a British double Olympic medallist, will get its 2014/15 race campaign in full sail at the flagship Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week sailing festival (August 3-10), with crew selection at the programme’s core. Taking on the three Big Boat Races during Cowes Week, the team, which will be based in Gosport on the UK South Coast, will trial key under-30 crew members in race conditions, before taking on the biennial Rolex Fastnet Race (August 11-13), which it won in record time in 2011. “It is exciting to be getting Azzam ready to sail again. You become quite attached to a yacht when you spend so much time sailing it around the world. Cowes Week has always been one of my favourite regattas since I was a kid. It will be a bit scary sailing such a big, fast boat in the confines of the Solent but I think the Big Boat Races will be spectacular,” said Walker, a two-time Volvo Ocean Race veteran.

“The Fastnet is an iconic race. It was great to break the monohull race record in 2011 but we will need some good fortune to defend it against a few larger, faster boats in 2013. “The Volvo 70s need windy, reaching conditions to really come into their own. Crew trials and training in a competitive race environment is the number one goal for the summer. We will be looking at a few new crew members for the future of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. “A quarter of the crew must be under 30 for the next race, so their appointment will be key to our success,” said Walker.

The Big Boat Races, which will likely include a race around the Isle of Wight, a 40 mile passage race, and a race around the Solent marks off England’s South Coast, will officially mark Azzam’s return to competition since completing the Volvo Ocean Race in Galway, Ireland last July. Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, which owns the team and is behind the highly anticipated New Year 2015 UAE capital Volvo Ocean Race stopover, the third on the global route after Brazil, says Azzam’s return to action marks a fitting start to its next campaign.

“Having started our first Volvo Ocean Race campaign at Cowes in 2011, it is fitting that we have gone full circle to start our next title push here again,” said Faisal Al Sheikh, Director Events Bureau, TCA Abu Dhabi.

Sail Solent in today's Daily Echo