Tuesday 24 / December / 2024
Khasab: After a grueling leg from Doha to Khasab, the sailors competing in the Sailing Arabia - The Tour (SATT) finally arrived at the shores of the Sultanate with Sidney Gavignet-skippered EFG Bank emerging victorious in the longest off-shore leg of the race.
The leg took over 48 hours to complete as the sailors docked at around 5.30 pm local time on Wednesday.
The apparent downwind leg surprised the sailors as the race committee decided to cut the race short due to the lack of wind. The teams had to motor their way to Khasab which took the better of them after enduring a tiring leg.
Reigning champions EFG Bank took the top spot as Almouj came second and Renaissance settled for third.
Commenting on the sudden stoppage of the wind, champion skipper Sidney Gavignet said: "It's a shame because it was supposed to be a downwind leg. It's a shame for everyone because we had enough upwind."
Renaissance, the Omani team, are proving a worthy opponent to the rest of the sailors as they are steadily creeping up the ranks.
Skipper Fahad Al Hasni said that they were chasing Almouj and trying to beat them for second place but at the same time trying to escape Zain team as they were on Renaissance's tail.
"I think it's a really good result; it was a very hard race. I'm happy about the result," said Al Hasni, whose team are now only 0.25 points behind third placed Almouj.
The sailors had very little time to rest as the fourth leg to Sohar begins on Thursday.
Eagerly looking forward to the fourth leg, Al Hasni said: "I'm excited for the race because my navigator says it's going to be downwind. It will start from Khasab so I think we'll enjoy it."
Defending champions EFG Bank skipper Gavignet said that the Khasab-Sohar leg is a challenge since all the teams are upbeat and feeling positive.
"It's good we have a challenge now; we have to be unbeatable downwind. So we will have the downwind leg before the finish," a confident Gavignet said.
