The Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team may be bringing up the rear in the Volvo Ocean Race but Ian Walker, the skipper, is confident that their luck can change.
Speaking via satellite phone Wednesday aboard Azzam from 190 miles south of the island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean, Walker pointed out how quickly things can change in a such a testing race.
"The next boat is 100 nautical miles away; it's quite a long way so it's not looking that rosy," he said. "But things have a habit of changing so we are just going to settle down and close it down as much as we can.
"It sounds a long way, but it's only six hours sailing. The thing about sailing is, if you sail into a patch with no wind you might not move again for five hours. So we'll never give up.
"We got stuck with no wind a couple of weeks ago; that can happen to someone else. Especially down in the doldrums."
The doldrums is a low-pressure area around the equator where the prevailing winds are very light. Boats can find their progress hindered if they take the wrong course through and could potentially be stranded for days.
Walker's team have fallen behind due to being held up by a cold front that slowed the race almost from the start, more than a week ago, of Leg 2.
"Fundamentally, our game plan involved getting through the front, which we haven't been able to do, whereas some of the other boats have sailed all the way south around and all the way around the front," Walker said.
Team Sanya, the Chinese entry, took a risk on Monday when they turned north, away from the rest of the boats, in a search of wind. The risk paid off initially, as they built a lead of more than 200 miles, before being forced to dock and pull out of the leg after suffering damage to their rigging.
Walker said that kind of gamble is something that might become an option later in the race.
"For sure, you are always measuring up risk against reward. If you're at the back, you've got to be prepared to take more risks than if you are at the front.
"We were leading as we got past South Africa … so we took a very conservative course" along with Telefonica and the Puma boat Mar Mostro. We actually saw [Team] Sanya pass behind us, a mile behind us, sailing north. It was an interesting play, sailing into an area of high winds, with considerable risk. I think as it played out it would have paid off but it's something they must have considered long and hard."
Morale is high aboard Azzam despite trailing the rest of the competitors, Walker said. "We were very frustrated at not being able to break through the front which would have given us a very strong position. Three times we almost made it but we didn't manage it, so we were very disappointed when we just got stuck.
"Since then we have been plugging away. Everyone has been in a situation like this and knows how quickly things can change.
"We are also buoyed by the fact we are making such good progress towards port after a really slow start to the leg."
With the boats likely to reach port - in an undisclosed location to negate the threat of piracy - around December 27 or 28, Christmas Day will be spent at sea.
"Its just another day we'll be at sea," said Walker. "I don't know if they have put anything special in our food bags but we'll have to postpone Christmas until we see our families on dry land."
The crew, but not the boat, will see out the New Year in Abu Dhabi.
"It's a bit of a funny leg as we have a bit of a wait while they ship the boat [to Abu Dhabi] because of the piracy concerns," Walker said. "We'll have five or six days where we have no boat to work on and nothing to do but relax. But, of course, as soon as the boat gets here we will be getting ready for the In-Port Race in Abu Dhabi.
"Right now the leg has not gone the way we hoped, but we are hoping we can turn things around in this leg and fuel some interest in Abu Dhabi."
Groupama leads the fleet, 85 nautical miles ahead of Puma.
twoods@thenational.ae
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz GLA
Price, base / as tested Dh150,900 / Dh173,600
Engine 2.0L inline four-cylinder
Transmission Seven-speed automatic
Power 211hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 1,200rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.4L / 100km
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Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
Company%20Profile
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Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
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Transmission: Single-speed automatic
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TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
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Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
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Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The specs
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RESULTS
Bantamweight
Victor Nunes (BRA) beat Siyovush Gulmamadov (TJK)
(Split decision)
Featherweight
Hussein Salim (IRQ) beat Shakhriyor Juraev (UZB)
(Round 1 submission, armbar)
Catchweight 80kg
Rashed Dawood (UAE) beat Otabek Kadirov (UZB)
(Round-1 submission, rear naked choke)
Lightweight
Ho Taek-oh (KOR) beat Ronald Girones (CUB)
(Round 3 submission, triangle choke)
Lightweight
Arthur Zaynukov (RUS) beat Damien Lapilus (FRA)
(Unanimous points)
Bantamweight
Vinicius de Oliveira (BRA) beat Furkatbek Yokubov (RUS)
(Round 1 TKO)
Featherweight
Movlid Khaybulaev (RUS) v Zaka Fatullazade (AZE)
(Round 1 rear naked choke)
Flyweight
Shannon Ross (TUR) beat Donovon Freelow (USA)
(Unanimous decision)
Lightweight
Dan Collins (GBR) beat Mohammad Yahya (UAE)
(Round 2 submission D’arce choke)
Catchweight 73kg
Martun Mezhulmyan (ARM) beat Islam Mamedov (RUS)
(Round 3 submission, kneebar)
Bantamweight world title
Xavier Alaoui (MAR) beat Jaures Dea (CAM)
(Unanimous points 48-46, 49-45, 49-45)
Flyweight world title
Manon Fiorot (FRA) v Gabriela Campo (ARG)
(Round 1 RSC)
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RESULTS
Lightweight (female)
Sara El Bakkali bt Anisha Kadka
Bantamweight
Mohammed Adil Al Debi bt Moaz Abdelgawad
Welterweight
Amir Boureslan bt Mahmoud Zanouny
Featherweight
Mohammed Al Katheeri bt Abrorbek Madaminbekov
Super featherweight
Ibrahem Bilal bt Emad Arafa
Middleweight
Ahmed Abdolaziz bt Imad Essassi
Bantamweight (female)
Ilham Bourakkadi bt Milena Martinou
Welterweight
Mohamed Mardi bt Noureddine El Agouti
Middleweight
Nabil Ouach bt Ymad Atrous
Welterweight
Nouredine Samir bt Marlon Ribeiro
Super welterweight
Brad Stanton bt Mohamed El Boukhari
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
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Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
RIVER%20SPIRIT
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