Volvo Ocean Race | Olympic boost for Abu Dhabi ahead of Fastnet defence

Four-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Mathew Pinsent gave Abu Dhabi a pre-Fastnet boost this week when he joined them for several hours on board Azzam – enough time for the British rowing great to appreciate just how tough a task the Volvo Ocean Race team have in store.

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Pinsent, who won three of his four gold medals with rowing partner Sir Steve Redgrave, had nothing but respect for the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team after what was already for him a long assignment.

"As the race went on I got used to the grinding and making sure I wasn't in the wrong place," said the 1.95m tall Pinsent. "After just a few hours though, I knew that I couldn't do this for weeks on end across oceans.

"Our race is six minutes, yes it is all or nothing in those six minutes, but it is six minutes. Whereas for these guys, it's hundreds and hundreds of days at sea. You can't compare the two. When we row an Olympic final, we are in our beds that night, no danger, no weather to worry about. It is very, very different and I have a lot of respect for it."

With many of the world's top young sailors trialing onboard Azzam this week in Cowes, much of the Abu Dhabi team's focus has been on the gruelling selection process needed to pick the candidates who will join skipper Ian Walker on the Volvo Ocean Race start line in Alicante, Spain in October 2014.

And whilst Walker has one eye on defending Azzam's Rolex Fastnet Race 2011 record, the skipper believes pushing the crew hopefuls to the limit is top priority.

"We have to be measured in what we are trying to achieve here this week," he said. "We have over a year before the Volvo Ocean Race start and we won't be sailing Azzam, so you need to be realistic about the end goals.

"For us, it's all about giving some young sailors a chance; it's about Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing returning to competitive action and us taking some big steps in selecting a race winning outfit."

The race starts Sunday in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Leaving The Solent through The Needles Channel, the race follows England's southern coastline down the English Channel, before rounding Land's End. The teams will round Fastnet Rock off Ireland's southwest coast, just as they did in the last Volvo Ocean Race, before returning around the Scilly Islands and finishing at Plymouth.

The monohull race record set by Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in 2011 is 42 hours and 39 minutes.