Muscat: The world’s most competitive “owner driver ”yacht racing, the 44Cupmulti-city series,concluded its 2nd day of the season opener in Muscat with strong winds that led to spectacular downwind legs. Wind speeds of 17-22 knots, which kicked up the waters and created frequent breaking waves, have seen the fleet of RC44s speeding down the waves and pushing the owner-drivers and their crews to the limit, but the most experienced teams rallied to record excellent displays in the waters off Al Mouj Muscat Marina.
Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 from Slovenia put in a near-perfect display in the first race, deploying ideal tactics for the conditions and handling the boat with precision to open the event with a win – a feat they then repeated in the third race.
Team Aqua of Great Britain also showed their skill by navigating the choppy waves and being in prime position to take victory from Peninsula Racing, also of Great Britain, in race two after the latter gybed too soon and surrendered the lead.
The third race was overshadowed by imposing clouds that caused the wind to build to 22 knots. Ceeref kept calm, lead at the top mark and held on for the rest of the race.
Despite the conditions, Team Ceeref ended the day in first place, Team Peninsula Racing from Great Britain in second and Team Charisma of Monaco finished third. All three teams rose to the occasion with just two points separating all three teams.
“What a great season opener – fantastic sailing,” exclaimed Adrian Stead, tactician on Igor Lah’s Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860, at the end of the first day. “Three cracking races - it was the first time we have sailed in such breeze since Marstrand last July. I think it was a question of who remembered ‘how to do it right’, the quickest.”
Day two picked up where the first three races left off – as did the conditions. Wins for Ceeref in the first race of the day, Charisma in the second and Aleph Racing of France in the final race saw the top three trade positions and a gap form to the chasing pack.
Reigning champions Team Charisma ended the day three points ahead of Ceeref, themselves three points ahead of Peninsula Racing.After a five-point gap, the next four teams - Aleph Racing, Team Nika of Monaco, Artemis Racing of Sweden, and Team Aqua - are separated by just six points. There are, however, eight rounds to go and still everything to play for.
Oman Sail, competing for the first time as a full-time crew, struggled early on in difficult conditions with a new boat, but managed to finish sixth in the fourth race as they started to recover lost ground.
Skipper Musab Al Hadi, said, “We started very roughly. We trained for two days before the racing in completely different conditions, and this has made the race very difficult and interesting for all of the teams. This is our first time racing this type of boat in these conditions, but the team is doing a very good job and we will keep working hard. We will keep learning and this is an important stepping stone for the team.
“We have two female sailors in the team this year – Marwa Al Khaifiand Ibtisam Al Salmi – which is a new requirement for the 44Cup this season. It’s great for the future of sailing, and for women in sailing, and they are both working very hard, doing their best, and are a valuable part of our team.”
Marwa Al Khaifi, making her debut in the 44Cup, added, “I am happy to be with the Oman Sail Team. This is my first time to be in this boat and every day I am learning lots of new things. Today was very windy and we have all learned more about the boat, the race and ourselves as a team. We still have many more races to go and hope to put in some good performances this weekend.”
A five-stage global tour, the 44Cup allows amateur owner drivers to race against some of the world’s best sailors in some of the most beautiful and diverse sailing venues around the world, and the 44Cup Oman will be a unique platform for Omani businesses to meet the owners of the 44Cup boats.
The 44Cup Oman is presented by official partners Oman Sail, organisers of the event, and host venue Al Mouj Muscat, in association with Automotive partner Mercedes-EQ, and official supporters Transom Catering and Tanuf Water.
Racing continues tomorrow with similar conditions forecast for day three. For more information about the 44Cup, please visit www.44cup.org.
