Young sailors celebrate race success

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Young international sailors have celebrated their success at the conclusion of the ninth Mussanah Race Week regatta in Oman. The increasingly popular event at Mussanah Sports City attracted 125 sailors, aged from eight to 16 yearsold, from a total of 21 countries.

Promising Thai sailor Weka Bhanubandh took top spot in the strong Optimist class ahead of his compatriot and teammate Bowonnan Chanram, with Oman’s Mohammed Al Qasmi in third.

Young sailors from Italy, Germany, Portugal and the UAE also took top-10 places. Norway’s Tobias Birkeland won the Laser Radial division with Faris Al Bakri from Qatar and the UAE’s Mohammed Alhammadi filling out the podium. Jean-Marc Gardette from the Seychelles posted a succession of first places to win the RSX class from Oman’s Abdulmajed Al Hadrami and Hammad Al Mujaini.

Meanwhile, local Omani sailors saw success in the Techno 293 windsurfer class, with Ali Al Sarhi and Mohammed Al Balushi finishing ahead of Nikola Stipcic from Croatia. And also making the most of familiarity with local conditions, Omani racers swept the board in the Laser 4.7 class, with Abdulmalik Al Hanai winning ahead of colleagues Almotassem Al Farsi and Alaa Al Omrani.

The racers took advantage of Oman’s ideal warm weather sailing conditions to take part in an intensive three-day preregatta coaching clinic before four days of racing.