ABU DHABI // Many Emiratis bid a temporary farewell to their homeland every year, but few do so by waving the national flag from half-way up the 30-metre mast of a racing yacht.
That was how Azzam crewman Adil Khalid, 26, set sail with his teammates yesterday on the third leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, and the patriotic gesture delighted fans on the quayside at the breakwater in Abu Dhabi.
“Everyone was waving and clapping and cheering for him,” said Mohamed Kamal, 18, an Egyptian expatriate and a “big” fan of Khalid and the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Team. “I felt proud to be an Arab, to be honest.”
Bella Martin, 17, a volunteer at the race’s Destination Village, said: “It was amazing. People were crowding just to get to see.”
Alanood and Shahd Khalil, sisters from Abu Dhabi, met Khalid before the boats left.
“He was just walking down here and we just sort of said, ‘Mr Adil, can we take a photograph with you?’” said Alanood, 20. “He is representing the UAE, so I am a big fan of his. Everyone was so excited about it. I was so proud because he was waving the Emirati flag.”
Azzam finished fifth in the race three years ago, but as the boat took an early lead yesterday on the next stage to Sanya in China, confidence was high among fans.
“This leg, I have a feeling they might win,” said Mr Kamal, who also volunteered at the village. “They have a really good chance to win the whole race.”
During the closing festivities in the capital, each of the seven participating teams took part in a parade, before a city handover between Abu Dhabi officials and the vice mayor of Sanya.
Hundreds of people who made their way down to the Corniche breakwater to take in the action were also greeted by a live broadcast of the boats setting sail. Some fans took it one step further, taking to the sea to watch the teams depart.
Although for most it was a fun day out, for some the departure was bittersweet.
Gail Cape, wife of Team Brunei’s navigator Andrew Cape, who has taken part in six round-the-world races, said the long separations and farewells grew easier over time.
“But if it’s a long leg and it’s a scary leg – when they leave New Zealand and they go to Brazil, that’s a long leg and it’s quite rough – that’s different. You feel a bit more nervous there,” said Mrs Cape, who lives in Oxford, England, with the couple’s son Noah, 18.
Three years ago the racing yachts were transported by container ship from Abu Dhabi to a secret starting point for the next stage to China, because of the threat from Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean.
“This is the first time they’ve sailed completely from here to Sanya but I think it will be good. I don’t think it will be as rough as some legs,” Mrs Cape said.
Race spokesman Jon Bramley said he hoped the event would return to the region.
“Abu Dhabi is one of our favourite stopovers. The next race takes place in 2017-2018. We certainly would like very much to come back to this part of the world, whether it’s Abu Dhabi or another emirate or somewhere else in the Gulf.
“It’s been an incredibly warm welcome as usual in Abu Dhabi. The conditions are just perfect and the people have been as hospitable as ever, as they always are. It’s just a lovely place to visit.”
rpennington@thenational.ae