Fresh off its recent, world-record setting monohull victory in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race, Azzam, the Volvo 65 yacht of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR), has berthed in Alicante, Spain ahead of next month’s start of the nine-month, round-the-world sailing epic.

In just a little over a month, ADOR will set sail the globe from Alicante in a race against six other highly skilled teams in one of the toughest challenges of athletic ability, sailing prowess, perseverance and intellect.

While in Alicante, Azzam, which means determination Arabic, will be given a full check by ADOR’s shore crew. The sailing team, skippered by Britain’s double-Olympic silver medallist Ian Walker, will then arrive in Spain later this week to begin a final round of testing and training before the race start on October 11.

As soon as the sailing team reunites with Azzam, it will begin testing a new set of sails and join the other teams in ‘Leg 0’ – a trial race in which VOR organisers test the safety and tracking systems of the teams and boats. Once completed, Azzam will be taken out of the water for a final servicing and prepared for the taxing 38,739 nautical mile trial ahead.

The yacht was skippered to Alicante by Neal McDonald, ADOR’s performance director and a delivery crew, including some ADOR shore team members who received a warm welcome into the Spanish port by Volvo Ocean Race staff.