The Qatari media welcomes the first edition of Sailing Arabia with the participation of 6 teams
Doha hosts the second stopover and valuable prizes for the winners

Doha – The Qatari media welcomed the announcement of Sailing Arabia –The Tour; a unique race held for the first time in the Arabian Gulf region. The race is organized by Oman Sail in collaboration with a number of authorities from the Gulf region at each stop over. Sailing Arabia-The Tour is based on the highly demanding and internationally renowned Tour de France à la Voile held annually in France and currently in its 33rd edition.

The announcement came at a press conference organized by Oman Sail and Commercialbank along with The Pearl-Qatar where the conference was held. The venue and partnerships come in the framework of promoting this initiative.

The hosting of this event also comes within the framework of the collaboration between Oman Sail and The Pearl-Qatar which embraces the second stopover of the tour.

The concept is simple – to bring Gulf States together in a race around the Arabian Peninsula. Along the way, the race will promote one of the region’s fastest growing sports, showcase commercial opportunities in sponsorship engagement and encourage the development of this region as an international stage to host high profile sporting events.

Starting on January 30, the Kingdom of Bahrain will witness the start of Sailing Arabia-The Tour where six teams will cover a distance of 1408km, split into 6 stops. The boats will set sail from Amwaj Marina in Manama and race to Porto Arabia marina at The Pearl-Qatar in Doha before crossing to Abu Dhabi Marine Sports Club. After a short rest the teams will sail along the coast of the UAE to Al Hamra Marina in Ras Al Khaimah. From here they will race past the northern Emirates towards the Omani enclave of Musandam where they will sail through the Straits of Hormuz and into the luxurious Zighy Bay Six-Senses near Khasab. The final run will see the six boats stop in Musannah Marina for a day ahead of a short sprint down to the finish line at The Wave, Muscat. The whole race will take 14 days with sailors sleeping onboard on several legs as they sail through the night without stopping.

Sailing Arabia-The Tour will be a true test of a sailor’s skills. Raced on the same one-design boats (Farr30 class) as the Tour de France à la Voile, sailors will not only have to race offshore overnight, but they will also have to do short, fast races in stopover venues close to shore for the public to watch.

Many of the sailors competing have a lot of experience behind them with sailors such as Mohsin Al Busaidi, the first Arab to sail around the world, Ahmed al Ma’amari and Abdullah Al Busaidi, both around the world sailors, and one of Oman Sail’s Chief Instructors, and most recently Captain of the historic Omani dhow Jewel of Muscat, Saleh Al Jabri.

‘With this event we are really seeing a group of sailors who have worked hard in order to compete in an event such as this.’ Saleh said after training at the Wave, Muscat. ‘The competition will be tough. With the winners of the Tour de France à la Voile taking part as well as the team from Bahrain, GAC Team Pindar, we will have to work hard form beginning to end. Bring it on- we’re ready!’

Sailing Arabia-The Tour will also give massive opportunities for sponsors to engage with a totally new demographic in the region and give business platforms at venues along the way. The first tour has already attracted interest from financial, logistics and lifestyle companies who all see potential in involvement. A group of banks has also taken the unique sponsorship opportunity created by an event which involves the region by sponsoring a boat. Team Commercialbank Group is represented by Commercial Bank of Qatar, National Bank of Oman and United Arab Bank in the UAE.

Andrew Stevens Group Chief Executive Officer, Commercial Bank of Qatar says, "We are delighted to support Sailing Arabia-The Tour. This is a great initiative towards reigniting the region’s rich maritime heritage. The 760 nautical mile challenge, the first regionally owned sailing race, celebrates the rich cross-border relationships of the region. Historically the region has flourished as a busy trading area and business has thrived amongst the different nations of the Gulf. This perfectly reflects the nature of the Commercialbank Group. Commercialbank has been a leading bank in Qatar since 1975 and a key supporter of businesses, the Bank’s regional footprint expands to Oman and UAE where it enjoys strategic alliances with Commercialbank partners National Bank of Oman and United Arab Bank in UAE. This sailing challenge celebrates regional unity and the potential of cross-border financial and banking relationships that Commercialbank facilitates.

Our sponsorship to this event also comes in the framework of motivating and developing the GCC’s youth in sports and particularly sailing, which is considered one of the fastest developing sports in the region.

Supporting such events which generate international goodwill and a healthy spirit of competition among individuals and countries also helps fuel the important role of positioning Qatar as an open, progressive and thriving country that is flourishing and has much to offer the international community.
The Bank is the proud title sponsor of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters Golf Tournament now in its 14th year, which brings world class golfing action to Doha and is set to start on the 3rd February at the Doha Golf Club.

It’s not just on the greens and fairways that the bank excels – in the sports arenas tennis and MotoGP motor cycling have also benefited from the bank’s willingness to work tirelessly with Qatar’s sporting bodies to realise the ambitions of the nation. Off the course, Commercialbank also continues to throw its support behind the other sporting visions of Qatar’s leaders.

And it’s that vision that has also seen the nation stage a highly-successful Asian Games, Asian Football Cup and make a successful bid to win the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup – all fully supported and applauded by Commercialbank.
We feel Sailing Arabia -The Tour is set to become a prestigious annual event and we are delighted to sponsor it at its inaugural edition. I wish success to all and thank Oman Sail for this great initiative‘’.

GAC Logistics is sponsoring one of the competing boats as well as coming onboard as the official shipping and logistics partner. Art Marine will use its Pan-Gulf network to leverage the event as a race support partner.

Ronautica Middle East, wholly owned by United Development Company also announced their cooperation with Oman Sail in this initiative. Herve Le Fauconnier, Marina Director at The Pearl-Qatar commented: “We were immediately supportive and excited to participate in the development of this race, connecting several countries and promoting this sport of tactics, speed and mastery.”

“Nautical activities like this are experiencing rapidly growing interest in the region and The Pearl-Qatar is an obvious destination for water-sports enthusiasts”, he added.

Eric Lebrun, Executive Vice President of Assets Management at The Pearl-Qatar’s master-developer United Development Company (UDC) said: “In line with the vision of His Highness The Emir, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, we always support activities related to sports and today are honored to welcome some of the biggest names in sailing on our Island.”

Sailing Arabia-The Tour will join sailing events such as the Volvo Ocean Race, the Extreme Sailing Series as well as the Asian Beach Games, The Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Commercialbank Qatar Masters, Asian Football Games and the upcoming FIFA World Cup promoting the GCC region as a high-end destination that enjoys ideal conditions. A winning French team has already confirmed their participation in the inaugural edition of this Arabian tour with other countries from Italy, UK, Australia and Honk Kong in edition to Kuwait, Qatar and Dubai have shown their willingness to participate in the next year’s edition.