Sports Reporter
Doha: Oman Sail’s new Arabian 100 (A100) Class trimaran ‘Majan’ has docked in the waters of Corniche, yesterday.
The Oman sailing team is here in Doha to promote interest among the youth for sailing. Through this expedition the team will also trace out the route for two of the future professional sailing events in Asia to be held in 2011.
‘Majan’ which set out from Kuwait is on a five-leg tour that will cover 1,700 nautical miles (3,150km) and test the route for the ‘Tour of Arabia race’. Doha was the teams’ second stopover after Bahrain and they will now head for Dubai before finishing their voyage in Muscat, Oman.
Qatar’s private sailing team Al Markab’s owner Sheikh Salman bin Jabor al-Thani welcomed the 14-member crew of ‘Majan’ on behalf of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation president Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor al-Thani and praised their efforts of promoting sailing in the region.
“What Oman Sail had achieved in a short time is phenomenal. It’s a great opportunity for the youngsters of the region to take up the sport. Now that there is a professional training academy we also can look forward to train with them in future and compete in various tournament,” said Sheikh Salman.
‘Tour of Arabia’ after linking together the GCC countries from Kuwait in the north to Oman in the south, will lead into the premier edition ‘Indian Ocean 5 Cape Race’, touching South Africa, Australia, Singapore and India. The race will cover all corners of the Indian Ocean and the five great Capes of the region.The crew plans to set out to trace this route in February next year. They should cover the 15,000 nautical miles (27,780km) course in 35 to 40 days including stopovers.
Oman Sail will also be starting an academy in Bahrain on similar lines.
“The Bahrain sailing academy will be launched coming Thursday and we will be assisting them in all possible way. These are all a part of our programme,” revealed Oman Sail’s spokeswomen Katharine Birtwistle.
Oman Sail chief excecutive David Graham and team skipper Paul Strandbridge both thanked Sheikh Salman for providing all the support here in Doha.
n DOHA: The Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) will be hosting the final round of the ABRA Unlimited Hydroplane World Championship from November 19-21, 2009.
This is a second race of its kind to take place outside the United States of America – the first race was held in Acapulco in 1981. |
