oman sail 4th quarter newsletter

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THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF OMAN SAIL

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This is the Quarterly newsletter of the Oman Sail campaign. Inside is a recap of the last three months and includes news on the Extreme 40's, Majan, Musandam, the Oman Sail Academy, the Clipper Race and the Jewel of Muscat.

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Page 1: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF OMAN SAIL

Page 2: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

2. EXTREME 40’s - iShares Cup 2009After six events and 118 races, the positions onthe top of the leader-board all boiled down tothe last race.

6. MAJAN, Tour of ArabiaMajan’s tour of Arabia was a voyage ofdiscovery.

10. MUSANDAMAfter a full refit and some training sailing alongsideMajan in Salalah, Musandam returned to Muscatto compete in the first Muscat-Khasab race.

12. TRY SAILINGSixty-four students from four schools have nowcompleted a six-week course at the Oman SailAcademy.

16. OMAN NATIONAL RACE TEAMThe Oman Sail team dominated the racing atthe Muscat Regatta with Omar Al Jabri andHamood Al Harmy winning the overall prize.

18. CLIPPER RACEOcean sailing is an integral part of the OmanSail project.

20. SAIL MAKERSIn early September, Saud Al Balushi and Said AlHattali left Oman for the remote town of Vinnesin France.

22. THE JEWEL OF MUSCATJewel of Muscat, a reconstruction of a 9th-century sewn-plank ship built on the beach inQantab, was launched into the Oman Sea.

24. LOOKING AHEADThe finale of the Asian Extreme Sailing Series willtake place at The Wave, Muscat.

Image: Mark Covell/Oman Sail

Page 3: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

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WelcomeImage: Lloyd Images/Oman Sail

I recently was on a flight and refused adate offered to me. I quickly identifiedby the colour and texture that it wasnot an Omani date and nowadays Iwould rather pass, than consume a substandard date; a litmus test on whetherI am settling in to the Omani way of life?

Dates are a great food source whensailing - an easily stored and tasty,healthy sugar hit when you need one.We have three boats going offshore inFebruary next quarter; Musandam -with a French Skipper, Majan - with aBritish Skipper and The Jewel of Muscatwith an Omani Skipper, Saleh Al Jabri.I have been reliably informed thatSaleh will be trying to load not less than400 kilos of dates onto The Jewel! I willobserve with interest the date strategyon the trimarans and report back next quarter.

In the last quarterly newsletter Ireported the infectious enthusiasm of our recruits, all of whom are nowprofessional sailors. In the few monthsjust gone by they have been racingdinghies and offshore impressively aswell as integral parts of the Extreme 40crew in the Asian circuit and instructingschool children and assisting on ourfinal selection program. In October ourExtreme 40’s came first and third in thehighly competitive European series

against some of the best sailors in theworld. The points were so tight at thetop of the table the series was decidedin the last race – great team, greatracing, great result.

Our A100, Majan, has turned headsthroughout its voyage in the gulf,which you can read more aboutinside. Many interested parties areenquiring about our plans with theboat which was our intent and hope.With a 50% Omani crew, on the 6th

February she is setting off to establishrecords and trace out a newracecourse – The Five Capes of TheIndian Ocean. Musandam will also bekeeping her company and chasing herhard. It is a challenging, tactical courseincluding a grueling southern oceanleg. The boat is fully loaded with mediaequipment, and you can keep track ofher on www.omansail.com. Withoutdoubt there will be great images,movies and stories coming back fromthe oceans. This modern, Nigel Irensdesign was specifically built to besailed fast and driven hard, the coursenot only has the attraction of thesailing but also the commerciallyinteresting region and stopovers forsponsors. The A100 class is now aliveand the vision is a big one – 6 huge,one-design multihulls racing The 5Capes of The Indian Ocean.

David GrahamChief Executive Officer

Page 4: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

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Dr. Rajiha Bint Abdulameer Bin Ali and Eng. Sultan Hamdoon Al Harthi,

with Masirah’s winning team

Images: Lloyd Images/Oman Sail

Page 5: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

Extreme40’s-iShares Cup 2009 -Victory for Oman!After six events and 118 races, thepositions on the top of the leader-board all boiled down to the last raceheld in the Spanish port of Almeria.With their Excellencies Dr Rajiha BintAbudlamir bin Ali, Minister of Tourism;Sultan Hamdoon Al Harthi, Head ofMuscat Municipality; and Shaikh HilalAl-Maamary, Ambassador to Spain on location with the Oman Sail team,their support and encouragementwas really welcomed by the teams:Masirah sealed the overall iSharesCup victory with Renaissancecoming third.

In an awe-inspiring display of sailing,the Masirah team took eleven top-three place finishes in sixteen races.Never far behind was the highlyexperienced crew of Renaissancewho was never out of the running andwas often the team that put the mostpressure on Masirah.

"I am so proud to have been able towatch Oman Sail's Masirah winningthe series in front of thousands ofspectators in Spain. I dedicate thisvictory to the wise leadership of HisMajesty and his vision in bringing thisproject into fruition.” Her Excellency,Dr. Rajiha Bint Abdulameer Bin Ali.

"It is a matter of pride for Oman thatMasirah and Renaissance dominatedthe iShares Cup, not just in Spain butalso the entire series. To win first andthird overall is a result of unprecedentedperformance." His Excellency Eng.Sultan Hamdoon Al Harthi.

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Image: Lloyd Images/Oman Sail

Page 6: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

Extreme 40’s - iShares Cup 2009

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Hong KongContinued success for theOmani teams during the AsianExtreme Sailing Series

Following on from their success in thesummer, the inaugural Extreme SailingSeries Asia saw Oman Sail's Masirahand The Wave, Muscat teams join fourother teams to race in Hong Kongharbour and into the heart ofSingapore. After two years of training,the Oman Sail trainees Khamis AlAnbouri and Nasser Al Mashari gainedtheir full time positions on board theOman boats against Olympic GoldMedalists, Round the World SoloSailing Stars, America Cup Sailors and World Champions.

“I think I'm the first Omani in history to sail in Hong Kong since Sindbadtraveled here from Oman all thoseyears ago. I'm so pleased to race aspart of a professional series and racein front of these top sailors. It's been a great experience and I think I'mallowed to call myself a professionalsailor now – two years of hard workhave paid off. I'm so pleased!" KhamisAl Anbouri exclaimed after being partof the winning team on Masirah inHong Kong.

Image: OC Events

Page 7: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

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SingaporeMasirah has again shown that theyare the team to beat under theleadership of Pete Cumming, havingwon Hong Kong and Singapore, withThe Wave, Muscat finishing 5th and 3rd

respectively. Masirah are 1st overallafter the first two events and TheWave, Muscat is in 4th.

Images: Th.martinez/Sea&Co/OC Events

Page 8: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

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Image: Lloyd Images/Oman Sail

Page 9: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

MajanTour of Arabia

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Mark Covell joined the team in Kuwait as anonboard media man to capture the highs andlows of the team. “This was the first time I hadset eyes on the mighty Majan. 105 foot ofslingshot power, clean sharp lines made to eatup sea miles for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

Image: Mark Covell/Oman Sail

Page 10: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

An extract from his report below:-

The set up was simple, a sailing crewof six plus me to run a route from thetop of the Gulf back home to Muscatstopping off at Bahrain, Doha, AbuDhabi and Dubai.

The first thing that we all discoveredwas that the Gulf is a challengingplace to sail. All sailors know that weneed to perform in a wide range ofconditions, that’s what makes sailing

so engaging. The first day of sailingwas unfortunately lacking thatimportant ingredient, WIND. When youstep up to the plate to compete as asailor you are asking mother nature tobring it on. Bring rain, bring sunshine,bring storms, bring waves the size of ahouse but just occasionally she bringsa millpond. I think that why they mademother nature a woman, so she couldchange her mind at the last minute.

Each city welcomed and looked afterus very well. Without exception, theywere all impressed by Majan andeven more inspired by what OmanSail’s recruits had achieved.

We celebrated Moshin Al Busaidi’sBirthday in Bahrain. He is a real creditto the team. He told me that he wasbeing pushed harder and harder. Iwas pleased he thought this asadvancing the overall skills of theteam was real tour goal.

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“Racingis about standingup to be counted.”

Images: Mark Covell/Oman Sail

Mark Covell

Page 11: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

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Dubai-Muscat

Speaking of goals, the last job on the list was to win line honours of theDubai to Muscat race. Against arecord entry and a very tricky forecastwe changed focus, put on our raceface and took it on. Racing is aboutstanding up to be counted and asPaul said in his race briefing, therewould be plenty of opportunities to be passed. There would be manyobstacles to negotiate; wind shifts by the millions, fishing buoys by the

thousands and islands by thehundreds. We won line-honours butsadly missed the course record by atiny amount. It looks like we’ll have tocome back for another go next year.

Majan’s tour of Arabia was to be avoyage of discovery. Looking backwe learnt new techniques for sailingMajan, we sailed the length of theGulf, met new friends and racedhome to Muscat for tea. From an

outsiders view, touring the Gulf was ashowcase journey from A to B but forOman Sail the Tour of Arabia hasraised confidence and new ambitionsto sail south into a bigger pond. A newroute of the five capes of the IndianOcean is waiting to be discovered…

Majan, Tour of Arabia

Page 12: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

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MusandamAfter a full refit and some training sailing alongsideMajan in Salalah, Musandam returned to Muscat tocompete in the first Muscat-Khasab race. Although therace started in very light conditions, Musandam crossedthe line 27 hours after the start, doing 25 knots of boatspeed, to take 1st place in the multi-hull competition.Round the world sailor Mohsin Al Busaidi joined the crewlist alongside Haitham Al Ghannami, Nawaf Al Ghadan,Nick Houchin, Nick Black and Musandam’s long-timeand highly experienced skipper, Loik Gallon.

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Images: Lloyd Images/Oman Sail

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TrySailing

Image: Herbert Fernandes/Oman Sail

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Sixty-four students from four schools havenow completed a six-week course at theOman Sail Academy and achieved theirLevel 1 certificate, enabling them to now sail unaided in light to moderateconditions. Nearly 20% of these studentsare girls and all the students will becarrying on sailing next year.

Image: Oman Sail

Image: Oman Sail

Page 16: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

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Encouraging young Omanis totake up a new, exciting sport.

Image: Herbert Fernandes/Oman Sail

Page 17: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

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Many of the teachers who have broughtstudents have become very aware of thelife skills their students are learning "Wewere delighted when Oman Sail invitedus to come sailing. The girls have gainedso much from doing this activity. Sailinghas taught them leadership skills, as theyare sailing their own boat under the closesupervision of the instructors. The girls nowwork much better as a team, as whenlaunching and landing the boats, it isessential that they work together" saidPrincipal of the School, Sakina Al Harthywho has also been out sailing with the girls.

The Academy will also be setting up acommunity club on Thursday mornings in2010 where children that have sailed cancarry on and bring their families withthem. They will also be competing in thefirst schools regatta in March.

Mohammed Al Mainai aged 16 fromRashid bin Al Nadhar School "It is one ofthe best Omani projects, reigniting ourmaritime heritage by encouraging theyoung Omanis to a new exciting sport,and I feel lucky to get the chance to sail".

Try Sailing

Image: Lloyd Images/Oman Sail

Image: Herbert Fernandes/Oman Sail

Page 18: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

The Oman Sail team dominated theracing at the Muscat Regatta with OmarAl Jabri and Hamood Al Harmy winningthe overall prize as well as the Laser Vagoclass. Sulieman Al Wahaibi and AbdullatifAl Wahaibi also won the Hobie 16 class.With support from the Ministry of Sport, therace-team then traveled to the NationalDay Regatta in Abu Dhabi. This was agreat learning curve for the team andthey had some excellent individual raceresults in the international fleet, whichincluded Olympians.

The Laser and Hobie squad are nowfocused on successfully competing in the Asian Beach Games being held inOman in December 2010. As part of their preparation, they will continue toparticipate in races across the GCC todevelop their experience throughout the next year.

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Oman NationalRace Team

Images: Oman Sail

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“Sailing is the easy part. Cooking for 18during a storm while the boat is beingbattered by huge waves is not easy!”Ahmed Al Maamari

Images: Oman Sail

Page 21: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

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Ocean sailing is an integral part of theOman Sail project and the two crewmembers Ahmed Al Maamari onUniquely Singapore and Abdullah AlBusaidi on Qingdao are both gettinginto the swing of racing across theoceans. The teams raced fromFrance to Brazil and after a short stopto resupply, they began their re-crossing of the Atlantic to the warmerclimes of Cape Town. After slightly

more than two weeks at sea, Ahmedcame in third with time to wait forAbdullah and greet him as hestepped off Qingdao. The teams havenow just completed the longest leg ofthe race as they crossed from SouthAfrica to Western Australia. During theracing, Ahmed and Abdullah sailed intemperatures well below zero andwaves up to forty feet high. Part of thecourse saw the teams follow the

journey of Ahmed Majid, the Omaninavigator who steered Columbus intothe Indian Ocean in the late 1400’s.After a long battle, Abdullah onQingdao overtook Ahmed onUniquely Singapore to take fifth and seventh respectively.

Clipper Race

Image: OnEdition

Image: Oman Sail

Page 22: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

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Sail Makers

Images: Oman Sail

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Both of them were trained with the stateof the art machinery used in a modernsail loft, two of which will be installed inthe Oman Sail shore support facility.

On returning to Oman, Saud followedMajan as she completed the Tour of Arabia and Said worked onMusandam’s sails and rigging as sheprepared for the Muscat-Khasab race.Both sail makers previously worked forthe Royal Oman Navy on boardShabab Oman and bring a wealth ofexperience to the Oman Sail project.

In early September, Saud Al Balushi and Said Al Hattali leftOman for the remote town of Vinnes in France. In the twomonths they were there they learned the skills required todesign, cut and maintain the hi-tech sails used across theOman Sail fleet under the guidance of Bruno Dubois, headof the North Sails loft in France, one of the busiest in the world.

Page 24: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

22 MAKING WAVES - 4TH QUARTER NEWSLETTER

Jewel of Muscat, a reconstruction of a9th-century sewn-plank ship built on thebeach in Qantab, was launched intothe Oman Sea on 18th October afteronly one year of construction. The shipcomprises over 40,000 stitches and ischaracteristic of those built in thewestern Indian Ocean. It represents amajor feat of maritime engineering.

With the Royal Navy of Oman assisting,Jewel of Muscat slipped into the waterjust before high tide on Sunday 18th

October.

The next milestone was successfullycompleted when the masts werelowered into the Jewel of Muscat onthe 12th of December and preparationsare now underway for her first sea trialsprior to her journey to Singapore inFebruary 2010.

“I was very happy to see her sitting soproudly in the water when she waslaunched. Nothing will make meprouder than steering her along theold trading routes from Muscat toSingapore via India and Malaysia, justas our forefathers did before us.”

Saleh Al Jabri

Launched into the Oman Sea

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“With both masts standing she now looks like a true seafaring ship worthy of the journey ahead.” Saleh Al Jabri

Images: Lloyd Images/Oman Sail

Page 26: Oman Sail 4th Quarter Newsletter

The finale of the Asian Extreme SailingSeries will take place at The Wave,Muscat between 1-5th February 2010,enabling the city of Muscat to viewthese Formula One’s of the sailing worldracing meters from the shore. Publicaccess to these boats is an integralpart of the Extreme Sailing Series andOman Sail will also be hosting anumber of free try sailing sessions andbeach activities for the public duringthe weekend 4-5th February 2010.

On the 6th February 2010 Majan andMusandam will also leave Muscat toset a route for a new Five Capes of the Indian Ocean race, which will start in 2011. The route will see the twotrimarans stop in the Maldives, CapeTown, Fremantle and Singapore beforereturning to Muscat.

In the middle of February 2010, theJewel of Muscat will also be departingMuscat on her voyage to Singapore,re-tracing out the old trade routes. It is

anticipated that she will take between4-5 weeks to reach her first stop inCochin, India where she will be hoistedout of the water for a full inspection.

The Academy will continue to remainbusy during the first quarter of 2010 withmore schools and community sailingplanned, including the first annualOman School's Sailing Regatta and the establishment of the communitysailing club.

Looking ahead to the next Quarter

Oman Sail is Making WavesFollow Oman Sail daily updates on: www.omansail.com You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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Image: Mark Covell/Oman Sail

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Oman Sail LLC. PO Box 2394, Ruwi 112, Sultanate of Oman. Email: [email protected]

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