Simon Fisher on board 6 Feb 2012

This is the time of year to catch up with Simon Fisher, (Si Fi) ex-Otter Commodore, who is still racing round the world with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. Having just completed the third leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, he is now in Sanya but the race has been one of mixed fortunes for the team so far.

They started their campaign in Alicante in early November in fine style having won the first inport race but suffered bitter disappointment with mast breakage just six hours after the start of the first leg race, Alicante to Cape Town, forcing them to pull out. The boat was shipped to Cape Town in time for them to complete the inshore race but they could only manage a fifth in the inport race. However they managed wins with the inport race in Abu Dhabi and the sprint from Abu Dhabi to Shajah. They still have six legs to go before reaching Galway in July.

Because of concerns about Somali pirates, the second and third leg were split into two with the fleet sailing to an “undisclosed destination” and the boats were shipped to and from Sharjah.

As well as being pleased not to have to sail through pirate infested water, it also gave Simon the chance to have a belated week of honeymoon. Simon and Maria got married in Barcelona in June but had to separate after three days with Si Fi joining his Abu Dhabi team mates in Italy and Maria joining her team in Lanzarote on board Telefonica where she is the logistics manager.