The award winning global Extreme Sailing Series™ is back to the Sultanate, bringing with it some of the world’s best sailors to compete in a thrilling, adrenaline-fuelled race that can be witnessed from the shore. This year’s edition will be held at the Almouj Golf club where a myriad of free attractions catering to all tastes will be available for the public to enjoy from March 20th to 22nd. The race village will open at 10 a.m. and racing will begin at 2 p.m.
The pressure is on Oman Sail’s Extreme 40 crews on The Wave Muscat and Oman Air not just to win in home waters but to also put on an electrifying show for the crowds when racing gets underway. Besides watching the race, available entertainment for the public will include free “Try Sailing” taster sessions, the Red Bull Skate Park, a football tournament and “Try Golf” opportunities.
After the dramas of Singapore where collisions and near misses were the order of the day, the waters around the stunning new venue of Almouj Golf Club, part of The Wave development in Muscat, are expected to deliver more sedate conditions for racing but according to Leigh McMillan, skipper of The Wave Muscat, competition between the 11 boats is likely to be anything but demure.
“The incidents we had in Singapore proved a bit of an eye opener because it showed how close and tight this whole series is going to be,” he said.
“We are hoping to have more consistent conditions in Muscat where everyone can get locked into the racing but this could make it even closer so it will be more difficult to win races. We’ll have our work cut out.”
The Wave Muscat were slow out of the blocks in Singapore but made up for it with nine outright wins, which was three more than nearest rivals Alinghi, and finishing on the podium 13 times in 29 races.
They finished in second place behind the Swiss but as defending champions, with a third consecutive title in their sights, they know they need to up their game to stay on top of the fleet. Rarely has the need to win in Muscat, as they did in 2013, been so pressing.
“It will be fantastic to be racing out of The Wave Muscat and have the home crowds cheering for us and we hope we can deliver. We will be sailing the best we can and when we are sailing at our best we are very difficult to beat,” said McMillan.
Omani sailor Nasser Al Mashari who raced on The Wave Muscat for the first time last month was ‘fired up’ at the prospect of racing in front of his peers and family.
“We travel all over the world with the Extremes but racing at home in Muscat is always really special,” he said.
“All my friends and family will be coming along and it is a chance for them to find out a bit more about sailing and be proud. The Wave Muscat won the event here last year and although we are in a brand new venue this year, we are really fired up and buzzing. We just want to get started.”
Almouj Golf Club, which runs alongside a two kilometre stretch of white beach, opens its doors to the Extreme Sailing Series community for the first time on Wednesday March 19 for a media day but a day later, the public will get their first glimpse of the new venue and the new Extreme 40 fleet.
Laid out before them is the Sea of Oman where the Extreme Sailing Series race track has been set down just yards from the beach and if previous Extreme events are anything to go by, there will be thousands of spectators turning up to support the two Omani boats.
Visitors will get an unrivalled view of the Greg Norman designed golf course, Oman's first PGA standard golf course, and the exciting race that will be taking place a few meters from the shore.
“Oman always puts on a good show – historically Muscat has been one of the best stopovers on the circuit so there will be plenty of spectators and hopefully we will have their support,” said Rob Greenhalgh, skipper of Oman Air who has two Omani sailors Hashim Al Rashdi and Musab Al Hadi as crew.
“We aren’t feeling any pressure as the home team – we just want to get out there and sail. These are home waters but I’m not sure if anyone on the boat has sailed on them before, not even the Omanis so we have the home advantage but no special local knowledge apart from where the good restaurants are.
Greenhalgh said he was pretty happy with their performance in Singapore. New crew, first event and they finished ninth out of 12 teams.
“It’s a tough fleet and we were a new team competing in very tricky conditions so I was happy. These events will get harder and harder because everyone will get better and better. It will be about minimising the mistakes but hopefully we can make big improvements in Muscat.
Extreme Sailing Series Act 2 Muscat, is sponsored by The Wave Muscat and United Engineering Services. The fleet will race in stadium mode for four days, and fans can watch the racing live online on the official event website at the following times: Thursday 20-Saturday 22: 1530-1700 local time.
