Oman Sail
Sailing Arabia – the Tour leg three highlights
Wednesday 22 February 2012
The nine boat Sailing Arabia – the Tour fleet arrived in Ras Al Khaimah on Monday (February 22) in the early hours of the morning, having raced the 232 kilometres from Abu Dhabi to Ras Al Khaimah. The top three ranked boats remained relatively unchanged – the French on Courrier Dunkeque won their third consecutive leg, while the Qatari flagged Team Commercialbank secured their best result yet, finishing in second just ahead of Team BAE Systems from Oman.
Hosted at the Royal Yacht Club of Ras Al Khaimah, the stopover in Ras Al Khaimah was supported by the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Investment and Development Authority.
Oman Sail’s CEO David Graham was present, and spoke highly of the efforts of everyone involved in the Ras Al Khaimah stopver.
“This is the second year Ras Al Khaimah has provided such a spectacular stopover for Sailing Arabia – the Tour. The Arabian coast is beautiful, and as you can see from today’s racing it provides perfect sailing conditions. Sailing Arabia – The Tour provides a platform for the GCC countries to come together to showcase our region, and I am delighted that in this edition with have five GCC countries competing.
“Ras Al Khaimah’s commitment to developing the sport of sailing and their local talents is evident in the participation of young Emirati sailor Marjed Sultan, who is sailing with Team Ras Al Khaimah. By developing talent in this we can reignite the regions marmite heritage which is so deep and rich.”
Yesterdays inshore yacht racing, held directly off the Royal Ras Al Khaimah Yacht Club at Al Hamra Marina and was close, fast and intense providing a magic spectacle for visiting VIPs and media.
The first race of two showed the talent of the French skippered teams with Team Commercialbank leading from start to finish with Team BAE Systems a very close second and Courrier Dunkerque third.
In race two it was Team Bahrain that led from the start, a position they maintained to the end. But the race wasn’t without drama with Team Muscat 2012 and Team BAE Systems colliding on the water. This paved the way for the women’s team Al Thuraya BankMuscat to sail on, claiming third place.
The combined results of the two races put Courrier Dunkerque and Team Commercialbank in joint first place with Team Bahrain second and Al ThurayaBank Muscat in third.
