Eight crews to race more than 700 miles around the Arabian Gulf in five legs
The 2017 edition of EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour held an illustrious opening, kick-starting two weeks of world class racing around the stunning Gulf region. The eight crews representing Oman, Kuwait, Switzerland, Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy will race more than 700 miles around the Arabian Gulf in five legs.
Sayyid Badr Al Busaidi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs presided over the opening ceremony and was joined by Maitha Al Mahrouqi, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Oman Sail chairwoman, Sayyid Tarik bin Shabib Al Said, Renaissance Services board member and patron of the Environment Society of Oman, Hans Christian Freiherr von Reibnitz, the German Ambassador to Oman, Giorgio Visetti, the Italian Ambassador to Oman and Nasser Al Sheibani, Al Mouj Muscat CEO.
Oman Sail CEO David Graham said this year’s event is shaping up to be the best yet.
“We are delighted to be launching the seventh edition of the tour,” he said. “Today and over the next two weeks, eight teams from around the world will race the Arabian Peninsula in 30ft boats, covering just over 750 nautical miles. The unique, stunning beauty of the Omani coastline will be captured through the lens of the international media, and distributed across the globe, raising awareness of Oman as a tourism and sailing destination. Sport is a wonderful medium to showcase Oman’s unique offerings and this race is part of our effort to boost the contribution of sports tourism in the Sultanate.”
“The Tour is a very tough race with a mix of offshore, coastal and in-port racing, night passages, lack of sleep and a mix of weather. Teams will have to be at their very best from start to finish if they want to have a chance of reaching the podium in Dubai. I take this opportunity to wish the teams all the very best; we look forward following two weeks of close quarter racing.”
All eyes will be on reigning EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour champions EFG Bank Monaco, who start the event as hot favourites for another win. Among those looking to topple the three-time winners will be Omani crews Team Renaissance and Team Al Mouj Muscat as well as Team Zain from Kuwait.
Omani skipper Fahad Al Hasni, whose team missed out on the podium by just one point last year, said the addition of an extra crewman onboard could make the difference this year.
“This year we have a slightly different crew and we also have one extra sailor onboard, so hopefully this will help us reach the podium,” said Al Hasni, a protege of long-time EFG Bank Monaco skipper Sidney Gavignet who sits this year’s race out due to injury. “We know we are very fast in windy conditions, especially when we’re sailing upwind because we have an extra crewmember onboard. This year the race starts in our home country of Oman which gives us a huge boost. We’re so proud to represent our country.”
Team Zain, made up of employees of the telecoms company plus professional skipper Cedric Pouligny, returns to EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour for the third year running.
“EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour is great fun, it’s challenging, we see some amazing places and get to rub shoulders with a great bunch of people including some of the world’s best sailors,” said Team Zain manager Mike Miller.
For more information, visit sailingarabiathetour.com