The Oman team, aged between 11-14, includes Zakariya Al Wahaibi, Samiha Al Riyami, alongside with their fellow sailors Laith Al Mahrouqi, Marwan Al Jabri, Salim Al Alawi and Saud Al Abri. The squad is accompanied by Abdulaziz Al Shidi, Oman Sail’s youth pathway coach, Sultan Al Zadjali, a race club coach at Mussanah Sports City and Youth Programme Manager Marina Psichogiou.

Featuring 73 sailors from 11 nations, racing is taking place in Agadir, comprising two championships, the Optimist Individual African Championship and the Optimist Team Racing African Championship. The team racing took place on Tuesday and saw great competition from the team, resulting in winning the second place and clinching a silver medal, after racing against Algeria, Angola, Denmark, and Mozambique.

Oman Sail’s CEO, David Graham congratulated the team for the excellent result: “We are very proud of what the team has accomplished in the team racing championship, a fruit of their collective effort and sheer determination. This new generation of athletes are making great strides in becoming exceptional sailors. If they keep up this effort, they will have a bright future. We wish them the very best in the rest of the event”.

“This has been a great opportunity for our youngsters to pick up valuable experience and tips from other international sailing teams,” said Abdulaziz Al Shidi. “Standards and expectations are changing as the programme progresses so aim is to go up the rankings year by year. We are still not at a level to challenge for the medals but we are working towards that and our target in 2014 is for our sailors to finish in the top 50% of the fleet. Last year it was to finish in the top 75% so we are climbing”. He added: “The team has been training hard for this event at training camps and in major competitions – some of them competed at the recent Asian Games in Korea – and with every event, we are seeing improvements.”

Individual racing of the IODA African Championships continues until October 17th, when a prize-giving ceremony is scheduled for all the participating nations.

Al Wahaibi was previously crowned Oman’s first ever Optimist Champion when he won the National Optimist Championships in Sur last month and 12 year-old Samiha Al Riyami, became the youngest ever athlete to represent the Sultanate at the Asian Games in Korea. Al Riyami was also only female participant at the recent National Optimist Championships back in Oman while Saud Al Abri, came first in the Under 11 category at the Championships in Sur.