Final countdown begins for EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour

by Oman Sail 2 Feb 2018 10:26 GMT 4-17 February 2018

The waiting is over, the teams have gathered, and it’s all systems go for the all-new 2018 EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour.

Sunday, February 4, will see the opening skirmishes in a highly competitive fleet of eight Diam 24 teams with a series of stadium races at Salalah in the south of Oman.

It marks the start of an intensive 14-day campaign which will take the international fleet along hundreds of miles of Oman’s striking coastline before the final, deciding encounters in the capital Muscat.

The teams face a demanding schedule of intense inshore stadium racing and challenging coastal raid courses, interspersed with road trips between some of the six coastal venues:

• 4 February – Salalah – Stadium Racing
• 5 February – Salalah – Coastal Raid
• 7 February – Duqm – Stadium Racing
• 8 February – Duqm – Coastal Raid
• 10 February – Masirah – Coastal Raid
• 11 February – Masirah – Stadium Racing
• 13 February – Ras Al Hadd – Coastal Raid
• 14 February – Sur – Stadium Racing
• 16 February – Mutrah – Coastal Raid
• 17 February – Mutrah – Stadium Racing

The variety of venues will also allow the event to highlight Oman’s great natural beauty and welcoming culture to a new audience, which is part of organiser Oman Sail’s mission to promote the Sultanate as a high end and adventure tourism destination, alongside reigniting the country’s maritime heritage.

Now in its eighth edition, the Gulf region’s highest-profile yacht racing event has attracted a multinational field eager to take advantage of Oman’s ideal wind, sea and mid-20°C temperature conditions.

And with EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour now sharing the high-speed Diam 24 one-design trimaran with the classic Tour Voile in France, the fleet includes several of the multihull’s leading exponents keen to get their season off to an early start.

• Boat name TBC (OMA) – Skipper: Stevie Morrison (GBR) – Crew: Abdulrahman Al Mashari, Quentin Ponroy
• Beijaflore (FRA) – Skipper: Valentin Bellet (FRA) - Crew: Julien Villion, Guillaume Piroulle, Valentin Sipan, Jason Saunders
• DB Schenker (GER) – Skipper: Elodie-Jane Mettraux (SUI) - Crew: Sophie de Turckheim, Mathilde Geron, Marwa Al Khaifi
• EFG Bank Monaco (MON) – Skipper: Thierry Douillard (FRA) - Crew: Mathieu Richard, Ali Al Balushi
• Team Lorina Golfe du Morbihan (FRA) - Skipper: Solune Robert (FRA) - Crew: Louis Flament, Riwan Perron, Charles Dorange
• Poujoulat (FRA) – Skipper: Bernard Stamm (SUI) - Crew: Jean-Christophe Mourniac, Gwen Riou
• Renaissance (OMA) – Skipper: Cedric Pouligny (FRA) - Crew: Yasser Al Rhabi, Sami Al Shukaili, Haitham Al Wahaibi, Hussein Al Mansoori
• VIVACAR (FRA) – Skipper: Matthieu Souben (FRA) - Crew: Didier Le Vourch, Fred Moreau