The Winning Team- Leigh McMillan, Mark Bulkeley, Pete Cumming and Nasser Al Mashari
© Lloyd Images/Oman Sail
© Lloyd Images/Oman Sail
Once that was done, it was straight into the regular programming and it was six boats racing for every point they could get. The two Oman Sail boats were out for the win and made no effort to hide it, especially between themselves. They were seen ruthlessly pushing them in the start sequence and no quarter was given on the race course. Other battles were going on in the rest of the fleet which led to some incredible viewing for the thousands of people who showed up to watch from the waterfront as well as on the beach. Masirah, the Wave, Muscat and debutantes Chine Team were controlling the top of the leaderboard but on several occasions Shirley Robertson and Nick Moloney upset the apple cart and came in with top positions. Unfortunately Roman Hagara didn't make it out on Red Bull Extreme Sailing due to several stitches in his hand and some bruising from the previous day's capsize. To compound everything they had some issues with their mainsail halyard and, as a result, had to sit out two races. Their strong lead, which had been chipped away at the previous day due to the capsize, slipped away even further.
By the time the commentator announced the final race the atmosphere was electric and the race committee moved the racing as close as possible to the spectators lining the breakwater. With Oman Sail's European Extreme Sailing Series crew member. David 'Freddie' Carr, on shore doing the commentary everyone had a professional's insight into exactly what was going on in front of them and really felt as if they were on an Extreme 40 with the crews. Only three teams could vie for the top spots, Masirah, The Wave and China Team, so the attention was firmly on them as they called on every ounce of tactical knowledge and experience to cross the finish line first. in the end Masirah controlled the race from beginning to end and crossed the line to rapturous applause. Behind them The Wave, Muscat and China Team dueled it out to the very end and it was the visiting team who pipped the local team on the line to take second place, but not enough to take second overall. In th end it was Masirah who won both the Muscat event and the Extreme Sailing Series Asia with The Wave, Muscat taking second in both and Chine Team taking third. The final three boats also finished the Muscat event in the same order as the finished the series with BT 4th, Red Bull fifth and Almeria in sixth.
A prize giving was held at The Wave, Muscat with His Excellency Sayyid Shehab Al Said, Advisor to His Majesty giving the prizes to the wining teams. Also in attendance were His Excellency Makbool Bin Ali Sultan, Minister of Trade and Commerce and Her Excellency Dr. Rajiha Bint Abdulamir Bin Ali, Minister of Tourism.
A Fish-Eye View of Masirah Racing
© Lloyd Images/ Oman Sail
© Lloyd Images/ Oman Sail
