Instructors from Oman Sail hosted queues of people, many of whom were completely new to water sports, and provided an exciting experience for them. The most popular activities were the Try Sailing events where close to 500 people registered to have a go on the Hobie 16 boats catamarans that accommodate up to four people. The banana boats and ringo rings also proved a big hit with around 130 people opting for a whizz round the bay. There were telematch games for different ages, drawing and painting sessions for kids, as well as some branded inflatable wheels as give-aways to add to their fun.

“It was wonderful to see families making the most of our water sports activities,” said Salma Al Hashmi, Director of Marketing and Events at Oman Sail. “A few years ago, sailing seemed unlikely as an activity, so the concept of organising beach events for the public makes the sport accessible to all of us, regardless of age. Our work revolves around making people aware of how healthy this activity is for their physical and mental well-being, and this event in Sohar tells the whole story”.

Members of Oman Sail’s Youth Programme, co-sponsored by Omantel and Oman Shipping Company, played a major part in showing enthusiastic kids who took a shine to sailing how they could spend more time with Oman Sail. Omantel's Ozone, aimed at people aged between 18 – 25 years old, proved a big draw among youth keen to become members of their Ozone club, their free style dancing platform generating some of most memorable images of the day. Omantel also organised a football league on the beach with prizes for the winning teams.

“There are two more events this season, one in Muscat and one in Sur and we are very excited at the prospect of hosting substantial crowds at both and giving them a taste of family fun on the water,” Al Hashmi added.

At the heart of this activity was Oman Sail’s core commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles to people of all ages and to enhancing their social welfare and development through the sport of sailing. The community focus is on youth and on making the beach and the sea a fun place to be so on shore, children were bouncing for fun on the bouncy castle and forming teams for the beach rope-pulling championships in which both individuals and teams won prizes.

Oman Sail will be organising a similar water sports event in Muscat on October 17th-18th and Sur in November 14th – 15th.