Following another exciting day at the EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour 2014 yesterday, during the second round of Inport racing in Abu Dhabi, teams are this morning preparing for Leg 3 from Abu Dhabi to Dubai.
At 60 nautical miles, Leg 3 is a relatively short hop but the forecast is for light airs, so the race committee has been forced to shorten the course from the original 70 nautical miles. This is in an effort to ensure the fleet arrives into Dubai in good time to prepare for the following leg. If the scheduled start time of 0700 goes to plan, the estimated time of arrival in Dubai is between 1800-1900.
Gilles Chiorri – Race Director commenting on Leg 3, said: “We have shortened Leg 3 by 10 miles to give us more time to prepare for the following leg from Dubai to Ras Al Khaimah, and to allow the crews to have a bit of rest. It looks as though the breeze will be light so we will probably motor two or three hours to wait for the sea breeze to fill in from the north-east before we set them off.”
The team of young university students on Team Delft Challenge – TU Delft, were back with a vengeance yesterday winning both Inport races from EFG Bank (Monaco) at the Abu Dhabi round of EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour 2014.
Having been disqualified from their line honours position on Leg 2 following a port/starboard incident with EFG Bank (Monaco), Team Delft Challenge – TU Delft couldn’t have hoped for a better scenario. They are now focusing on a repeat performance on this leg to Dubai.
Koen de Smedt, skipper of Team Delft Challenge – TU Delft commented: “We were a bit disappointed about the disqualification but it made us more motivated to win the Inport races. It was very important for us to make a good stand.
'“For this leg we have prepared for light winds so we have reduced the gear on the boat and taken off any unnecessary weight. We are still looking at the routings to see if we can find an advantage and looking to see when the seabreeze will kick in. The leg is fairly straightforward but we have to keep an eye out for the restricted areas as we come into Dubai. The rest is pretty straightforward.”
Although there were a total of seven teams racing yesterday, including Royal Navy of Oman skippered by Abdul Aziz Yahya Al Hussaini, and Team Abu Dhabi from the UAE who joined the Tour specifically for the in port race, the fleet is back to six again for this leg.
Current series leader going into Leg 3 is EFG Bank (Monaco) skippered by Frenchman Sidney Gavignet. This team finished both Inport races in second place yesterday, so their aim today is to improve their result and extend their overall lead.
Gavignet commented: “We had a couple of poor starts yesterday including hitting the mark at the pin end of the line, so we are hoping that today’s leg will result in a better performance. This leg however, is going to be light, which will be tricky. We have kept the boat light for this leg and we will be focusing on speed. We’ll have plenty of time to navigate because we won’t be moving very fast.”
This event, which runs from February 9-24, is now in its fourth year and offers 15 days of intense sailing with a mix of inport and offshore races to test the skills of not only the region’s best sailing talent, but also a selection of elite world class sailors.
The 760 nautical mile course of the Tour spans over four countries from Bahrain to Oman, with eight of the region’s premier marinas playing host as stopover venues during the seven legs of the course. In Dubai, teams will be based at the marina at Dubai Offshore Sailing Club.
