The five-stop international 44Cup tour will conclude in Muscat from 7-11 December 2022 with nine teams representing Great Britain, Monaco, France, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and a wild card entry from Oman helmed by Mussab Al Hadi. This will be the first time since 2014 that the RC44 fleet has visited the country when Oman also hosted the final round, and this year the Al Mouj Muscat Marina will provide a stunning host venue for the thrilling 44Cup season finale.
The Omani team of 11 professional sailors, sponsored by Asyad Shipping company, consists of:
- Musab Al Hadi (Skipper)
- Nasser Al Mashari
- Hussain Al Jabri
- Ali Al Balushi
- Waleed Al Kindi
- Yasser Al Rahbi
- Abdulrahman Al Mashari
- Ahmed Al Hasani
- Raad Al Hadi
- Haitham Al Wahaibi
- Akram Al Wahaibi
Dr Khamis Al Jabri, Oman Sail CEO, said, “Oman has built a reputation for hosting big moments in international watersports, from World Championships to Olympic qualifiers, and the final round of the 44Cup Championship is another high-profile event we are proud to bring to the country. Al Mouj Marina offers excellent sailing conditions and a great experience for spectators to get close to the action, and we are looking forward to an exceptional end to what has been an incredible season.”
Jessica Gray, 44Cup Communications Manager, said, “We are delighted to return to Oman to conclude what has been another thrilling season. The racing within the fleet is highly competitive with boats often finishing within seconds of each other. In October Monaco based team Charisma were crowned World Champions so everyone is now focused on the 2022 Tour Champion title and the Al Mouj Marina will provide the ideal setting for four days of ultra-close high-performance racing.”
Shaun Michael, Chief Executive Officer of Mercedes-Benz Oman, said, “We are excited to partner with Oman Sail to bring the 44Cup back to Oman, enjoy the competition, but also raise environmental awareness.” He added, “We have synergies with sailing when it comes to sustainability and we continue to lead by example and do our part. A paramount example is the Mercedes-Benz EQ, a range of electric vehicles that represents Mercedes-Benz in its most progressive way. EQ stands for ‘Electric Intelligence’ and we are systematically using human-centred innovation by incorporating intelligent services and networked charging solutions for our customers from the very start.
Since its launch in 2007, the 44Cup brings together the worlds of sailing and business, allowing amateur owner drivers to race high performance one-design yachts against some of the world’s best sailors. With its strict one-design format the 44Cup is a level playing field as you could wish to find in international yacht racing.
The RC44 is a lightweight, high performance one-design racing yacht co-designed by five-time America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts with naval architect Andrej Justin. All participating boats are strictly identical in terms of construction, shape of hull, appendages, and weight and weight distribution, as well as a 50-50 split between amateurs and professionals in each eight-person crew.
Fleet racing is very short, intense, and action-packed, with a target race time of 40 minutes and boats frequently separated by just seconds at the finish line. With three to four races per day over a four-day regatta, the 44Cup offers the fleet more racing each season than any other owner driven racing circuit.
The 44Cup Oman is organised by Oman Sail and supported by official event partners Oman Air, Al Mouj Muscat, Kempinski Hotel Muscat, Tanuf Water, and the new EQ range from Mercedes-Benz Oman.
