French Victory in the First leg

 The first leg of the yacht race Sailing Arabia – the Tour concluded under Moonlight at The Pearl-Qatar in Doha, Qatar, on the 13 February. The unique race joins the nations of the Gulf together in a race around the region, with teams representing Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and France going head to head over the next 15 days.

The nine-boat fleet started the first leg from Manama, Bahrain in strong breeze on the 12 February, delivering an exciting sail all the way to Doha. It was an all-French team, Courrier Dunkerque who claimed the leg one victory, as the only non-GCC team competing in the race, but the team’s skipper Daniel Souben said that despite winning the leg, his crew remain wary of the potential of their competitors – highlighting the Omani Team BAE Systems and the only team representing Qatar, Team Commercialbank as extremely strong competitors.

After more than 11 hours of non-stop racing, Courrier Dunkerque eventually crossed the finish line 31min 32sec ahead of Team BAE Systems with Team Commercialbank finishing a close third.

Frenchman Cedric Pouligny, who is skippering the same Omani crew that finished fifth in one of France’s toughest offshore events, the 2011 Tour du France a la Voile onboard Team BAE Systems, commented:

“It was a great start. Most of the racing was downwind all the way to the finish line so it was quick – I would say it was pretty perfect sailing conditions for the first leg. There was a pretty close battle on the water so we are very happy to finish second. We were fighting for a pretty long way. I think that is normal in these kind of conditions and as the boats are so evenly matched the level of racing was very good”

Bertrand Pace, the French skipper of Team Commercialbank commented:
“The sailing conditions in this region are fantastic. We have had great winds and the first leg was really exciting racing. There are a lot of strong competitors within the fleet and although it is only the first leg, I think we have shown Team Commercial Bank is a team to contend with and we have a real shot at the podium.”

Another impressive performance was that of Arabian sailor Ahmed Al Mamari and his all-Omani crew on Team Renaissance, which finished a credible fourth after holding onto second place for all but 20 miles of the 241 kilometre leg. Al Mamari says it was a good result for his crew and that things might have played out differently had they not had a brief encounter with a wayward fishing net.

“We were in second place and holding position against Team BAE Systems and Team Commercialbank when we ran into the net. Despite stalling for a few minutes while we cleared our keel I’m proud of the way my crew sailed and we’ll continue to improve as the race progresses.”

One spot back, the all women-crew sailing Al Thuraya BankMuscat representing Oman finished a close fifth and was amongst the front runners for most of the race.

Commenting at the end of the leg, Dee Caffari, the teams record breaking round the world skipper, said her Omani crew sailed the race of their lives and believes there is a lot more left to give.

“The crew work onboard was pretty good but it will get better and I believe that we’re a real podium chance as our communications as a crew improve. It was a great downwind leg and valuable time for the girls sailing with a spinnaker from the top mark to the finish.”

The team representing the Kingdom of Bahrain, skippered by Bahraini national Qassim Abdul Razaq, had a promising start to the race, making it to the first mark in third place. Unfortunately the tea were slowed by a problem with one of their sails, but they certainly showed their potential for the rest of the race. Qassim commented:
“We had a really good start and we made it to the first mark in third place, just behind the French team that went on to win. We then had some problems with our spinnaker so we lost a little time, but I am really pleased with the teams performance.

Just before the finish we were bow to bow with the Saudi boat and it was great competition!”

The official prize giving ceremony, hosted at The Pearl-Qatar, was attended by a host of officials and media, including Mohamed Bin Nasser Alwahaibi, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman, Waheed Mubarak Sayyar, Embassay of the Kingdom of Bahrain in Doha, Juma Rashid al Nadhri, the UAE Ambassador in Qatar, and Mr. Fahad Jaber, Executive Director of Qatar Sailing and Rowing Federation.

Mr Jaber presented the awards to the top three teams, alongside Fahad Bader, Exectuive General Manager of Commercialbank, who commented: “We are very pleased to be representing Qatar again in Sailing Arabia The Tour. Last year's inaugural edition provided a unique opportunity for sailing teams to race across several GCC stopovers and we were immensely proud to be in the podium position. This year the Tour has grown even bigger and we have the winner of last year's Tour Frenchman Bertrand Pace to helm our team.

“Our yacht reflects Commercialbank Group's commitment to represent Qatar in a prestigious sailing event in celebration to the Qatar's national sports day and support the vision of Qatar’s leaders for the nation to be a world class sporting destination.”

In addition to the long legs from port to port, in each stopover the teams will face a difference kind of challenge, with short races close to shore taking place. In Doha yesterday, the teams sailed one race, as they challenged for The Pearl Cup, a race supported by The Pearl-Qatar.

Set against the spectacular backdrop of The Pearl-Qatar, the local Qatari team of Team Commercialbank dominated the in-port race from the start, and managed to maintain their lead throughout to claim victory. An intense battle for positions two to four was played out between Courrier Dunkerque, Team Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Team BAE Systems. Team Kingdom of Saudi Arabia did well on the last stretch to keep Team BAE Systems at bay and defend their position, finishing third, just behind the French on Courrier Dunkerque.

Saeed Al Sulaiti, General Manager Shield at The Pearl-Qatar presented who the awards to the top placed teams said: “We always support activities related to sport and we are privileged to host Sail Arabia – The Tour on Qatar National Sports Day. By hosting the in-port racing at The Pearl-Qatar, we have provided the GCC teams with the opportunity to participate and support this strategically important day for Qatar”.

The second leg of the race sets sail from The Pearl-Qatar south to Abu Dhabi Sailing and Yacht Club today (Wednesday February 15) at 1000 hours local time and is the longest and most challenging of the tour covering 296 kilometers.

Over the course of 15 days of racing, the fleet will cover 1,408 kilometers, sailing from Bahrain, to Qatar, before heading to the UAE where they will visit Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Kaimah. They will then take in three stops in Omani waters – Musandam, Mussanah and the final port in Oman’s capital, Muscat.
 

Results from first leg including finishing time