|
Oman traces out new Indian Ocean
5 Capes race circuit
By A Staff Reporter
MUSCAT — Hot on the heels of the successful Extreme Sailing Series
Asia-Muscat event where thousands watched from the shore line as Oman beat
international Olympic Champions to take both first and second places on
their boats Masirah and The Wave, Muscat, the offshore sailors from Oman
Sail are now embarking on a new chapter in Oman’s maritime history. Oman’s
giant racing boats, Majan and Musandam, set sail yesterday on the first leg
of the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race. Majan, Oman Sail’s “Arabian 100” trimaran
is trailblazing the course in this inaugural race in order to set a time and
route for other racing yachts to follow in years to come.
Musandam will follow in her wake and use some of the legs of the course as
an opportunity to train more young Omani sailors for future challenges. The
Oman Sail shore team, colleagues from The Wave, Muscat and friends and
families flocked to the shore line to wish the crews on board the Oman boats
safe passage as the embarked on the next step of Oman Sail’s plans to create
international events based from Muscat. On board Majan is a crew of six
sailors as well as an onboard media man who will send back daily news from
onboard as well as images and videos.
Two of the crew on Majan are Omani, one of them being Mohsin al Busaidy, our
national hero who sailed into the history books in March 2009 when he became
the first Arab to circumnavigation the globe non-stop. Joining him will be
Mohammed al Ghailani, a new member of the Oman Sail offshore team and a
member of the Majan crew when they did the Tour of Arabia at the end of
2009. Musandam will have a crew of five on board, two of who are also Omani
sailors new to the offshore world: Nawaf al Gheedani and Haythem al Ghanami.
As Mohsin al Busaidy explained “It is great to be going back to the open
ocean and helping to trace out new routes with the Oman flag held high and
pride. It was just over a year ago that I returned from sailing around the
World and I am equally excited by the prospect of tracing out a new race
circuit from Muscat. With the success of my team mates Khamis al Anbouri and
Nasser al Masari in the Extreme Sailing Series competition finel here in
Muscat, we are putting Oman on the international sailing map.”
Life on board for the sailors will not be easy. There are only three berths
(small cot beds) on each boat, there are no toilets or showers on board and
each boat only has one simple gas stove where the crew will rehydrate food
by adding boiling water — never an easy in the Southern Ocean where each
wave can be taller than a house. With a total distance of 16,300 nautical
miles (30,200km) this new course will take Oman’s new flagship Arabian 100
trimaran via the Indian Ocean’s five great Capes: “Today the Atlantic is the
playing field for the sailing world’s greatest oceanic races and all the
round the world races start and finish in Europe.
The new Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race course is 100 per cent Indian Ocean
utilising the boundaries of the Middle East, Africa, Australia and Central
Asia,” said Mark Turner, CEO, OC Group, the race organisers. As David
Graham, CEO Oman Sail explained to the local press watching the departure of
the trimarans from the docks of The Wave, Muscat “We have watched Oman
dominate the Extreme Sailing Series Asia here in Muscat and we are now
looking to show off Oman’s capabilities on the offshore stage as well. Our
crews on Majan are heading off today to trace out a potential new course
ahead of the first official edition planned for Spring 2012.
There is a great national pride in the project and already other GCC nations
are interested in developing similar sailing programmes and we encourage
this. Ultimately, if by 2016 we had six big race boats racing on this new
Indian Ocean course under the colours of different Gulf and Asian nations,
for me, that would be a great achievement. For now, we are here to wish our
crews on both Majan and Musandam safe passage and favourable winds on their
adventure.” Majan will be sailing from Muscat through the tropical waters of
Oman past Ras al Hadd (literally ‘Cape’ in Arabic) with their bows pointing
towards the Equator.
After a stop in the Maldives, Majan will then head down to the tip of South
Africa, crossing Cape Agulhas, and Cape Town. The Omani teams will then turn
East to race across the frozen and treacherous Southern Ocean, one of the
most exhilarating legs of the course, before reaching the warmth of Cape
Leeuwin and Australia’s west coast. From here the boats sail north to Cape
Piai in the Malacca Straits close to Singapore and up to Cape Comorin at the
southern tip of India before returning the welcoming shores of Oman and the
starting point of the journey in Muscat. |
