Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR) Azzam’s Emirati sailor Adil Khalid is on cloud nine ever since his team won the prestigious Volvo Ocean Race last week.

The phone hasn’t stopped ringing for Khalid from the time he landed in the capital on Monday from Gothenburg, Sweden, where they sealed a historic double triumph.

“It’s was such a great feeling to win the title as it reminded me of how I felt when I represented UAE in the Beijing Olympics,” said Khalid, who became the first Arab sailor to take part in the Volvo Ocean Race and win it.

Speaking to Gulf News on Tuesday, Khalid said: “Volvo Ocean Race has changed my life completely. It was great to go to sea and test yourself, test your body and see how strong you are. It has helped me to be patient and has calmed me down.”

“To get the taste of winning and to learn that all your hard work has paid off after five years of work is great. The feeling that you did it for your country is special,” said Khalid, who went on to claim that he was no longer a rookie sailor and was ready to make the transition to leading the team.

“When I told him [Ian Walker] I want to be skipper he was shocked and he said, ‘How can you be the skipper?’ I told him why not? Anything can happen in this world. I, as a person, have to dream and I know I have to work hard for it,” revealed Khalid, who brushed aside the view that it was too early for him to fit into Walker’s shoes.

“I don’t think so as I have sailed around the world and we have won the title. The skipper is responsible for a lot of things and it’s about right management once you have a whole lot of right people around you,” said Khalid, attributing ADOR’s success to the top class sailors they had on board all through the nine months.

“The reason we won the Volvo Ocean Race is because we picked up the best people in the world. Having been a part of the team, I know exactly what to do and [how] to choose the right people and the best coach,” revealed Khalid, who has honed his leadership qualities watching how Walker was going about his business.

“Walker is a motivated guy and was hungry to win as he has been there for around 10 years. He was working on it for a long time. I was watching him closely and if you have to go up the rank from worker to manager, you have to look up and work hard all the time,” the 26 year old said.

However, Khalid’s captaincy hopes now rests on Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority’s (TCA) decision on whether to continue in the race next season. There is a lot of speculation that TCA may not continue in the sport. However, Khalid begs to differ.

“From what I understand, we want to move forward after this success. After five years of hard work, we have to move forward but you have to understand it is a big budget race and not a dinghy race. You also have to understand there are other projects as well,” said Khalid, whose immediate agenda is to take part in the qualifiers of the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

“I want to try and qualify in all the four events — Laser, Finn, 49ers and Nacra. I have a few coaches in mind and would like to start working with the best one after Ramadan.”