Ian Walker joins the Gladiator sailing team

Ian Walker, one of Britain"s most successful sailors and winner of the 2014/15 Volvo Ocean Race, has joined the Langley Gladiator sailing team for the 2016 season.

Ian Walker is at home with his wife and young family in Hampshire, England soon after a week calling tactics on board with the Langley Gladiator sailing team at Quantum Key West Race Week 2016, in Florida. Sailing conditions in the Sunshine State were anything but sunny as 50 mph winds caused racing to be cancelled on two of the five regatta days, but it was time enough for Walker to assess the Gladiator team ahead of the 2016 52Super Series, which he will be joining as tactician.

Walker, 45, has already achieved much in the sailing world: silver medals at the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics, coaching Shirley Robertson's British women's team to take gold in Athens and skippering three Volvo Ocean Races, finally winning this, the marathon of the sailing world in 2014/15 having established an insurmountable lead in the penultimate leg.

It's back to sailing's equivalent of the sprint with the 52 Super Series that is Ian Walker's next challenge though. A lot has changed since he was last sailing these boats in the Audi Med Cup, forerunner of the 52Super Series, before embarking on his Volvo campaigns. Boat design has evolved, teams are tighter and the standard of racing now the highest ever. Races are decided in minutes rather than months as many of the world's finest sailors do battle over the five regatta Med series. It will be quite a challenge, but challenges are what Ian Walker is made of.

Ian Walker: Gladiator tactician in 2016