Sailing Arabia – the Tour race start postponed

by Nicky Moore 11 Feb 2012 19:04 GMT

Due to extreme weather forecasts of over 35 knots of wind, the event authority of Sailing Arabia – the Tour has made the official decision to postpone the start of the first leg of the race, from Bahrain to Qatar.

The race was due to start at 1300 local time (1000 hours UTC) on the 12th February, and has been postponed to the following day. Racing will know start at 0700 hours local time (0400 hours UTC) on the 13th February.

The decision has been made for the safety of the teams due to the extreme weather conditions. Jean-Michel Gandon, Race Director said:

“We have taken the decision because there is a lot of wind forecast tomorrow night. It is the first leg and we don’t want to break the boats – we want all nine boats to finish the race safely. We think with more than 35 knots forecast it could make it very complicated for crews.”

The decision to postpone the first leg will not affect the following legs, which will remain as per the schedule below. The official opening ceremony will still take place on the 12th February, at the Amwaj Marina in Bahrain.

At the Skippers briefing earlier in the day, the teams were all given an on board computer, and they will now spend the next 24 hours analysing the forecasted weather and planning their strategies. The boats have now all been fitted with their onboard tracking devices, which will go live at the race start and be updated every three hours, allowing you to keep a close eye on the fleets progress. The trackers are available to view at www.sailingarabiathetour.com

Over the last two days, the teams have been taking advantage of the great sailing conditions in Bahrain, putting in some time on the water for some last minute training.