Majan and Musandam in The Maldives Skippers Paul Standbridge and Loik Gallon (Photo courtesy of Lloyd Images/Oman Sail)
One of the best things about the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race route is that each individual leg provides its own unique challenges whether it be extreme temperatures, strong currents or gale force winds.
Either way you can guarantee that Musandam and the crew on board are going to tackle these challenges head on and with a bit of old fashioned grit and determination and come out the other side as better people and sailors for it. The first leg from Muscat to the Maldives certainly did this. With an unpleasant first night at sea to the unpredictable high pressure dominating the northern stretches of the Indian Ocean we certainly had our fair share of varying challenges. “The first challenge for me was allowing my mind and body to adapt the routine at sea”, Haitham tells me, “Once I had got used to the three hours sleeping followed by three hours on deck it became a lot smoother for me”.
Hooch, Nawaf, Haythem and Nobi In The Maldives (Photo courtesy of Oman Sail)
For Haitham and Nawaf this is all new to them. Six months ago they both knew very little about the sailing world and as their team mate I can vouch for the excellent way they are improving and learning new things about maintaining and sailing of these powerful trimarans. Upon arrival to the Maldives, Musandam was met by an armada of support boats waving and shouting their support as the crossed the finish line off the island of Male. “Seeing all the boats welcome us here all waving the Omani flag was overwhelming and it struck home how significant our role is”. It is clear chatting with Haitham and Nawaf that the tone in their voice is one of excitement and its evident that they are thriving in the ambassadorial role that they are playing.
Since arriving in the Maldives the past few days have been spent preparing and restocking Musandam whilst also allowing some time for some rest before the next leg. Although we would all love to stay in this beautiful place, we are all itching to get back out on the water and take on the challenges that they next leg will throw at us. Next stop….Cape Town!
Blog entry by Nick Houchin aboard Musandam
Majan On Her Maiden Voyage (Photo by Mark Lloyd /Lloyd Images / Oman Sail)
|
Oman Sail’s new A100 ‘Majan’ left Muscat (Oman) last Saturday (6.2.10) to begin the journey of tracing out the route of the new Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race course that links together the Middle East, Africa, Australia and Central Asia, ahead of the first official edition planned for Spring 2012. Alongside the 105-ft A100 multihull was Oman Sail’s 75-ft multihull ‘Musandam’ – a boat that has already circumnavigated the globe under the Oman Sail banner. |
|
|
It was a relatively short first leg, only 1400 miles from Oman to the Maldives, but included passing the first of the five great capes – Ras Al Hadd. Literally meaning ‘the cape’ in Arabic, it is the easternmost point of the Arabian Peninsula and Oman is very proud that this is the point where the suns first rays touch land on rising. Just short of 5 days of sailing Majan’s crew, skippered by Paul Standbridge, and Musandam reached the island of Male, capital of the Maldives, on Thursday (10.2.10). The Oman Sail multihulls received a great send off from Muscat and were rewarded on arrival in the Maldives by a small armada of boats flying Omani flags. The first leg of this challenging new course proved to be testing for both crew and boat: “Over the next six hours we sailed under eight different sail combinations to cope with the wind’s fickle mood. We saw as much as 26 knots and as little as zero. Why is it in so many races and crossings the first night at sea, Mother Nature and King Neptune gang up and tries to catch you out?” wrote Mark Covell after the first day at sea. Navigator Thierry Douillard commented: “The weather for this first leg was not really ideal with High Pressure on the direct course, but we managed to cross and for the last two days, we were downwind with full main and gennaker – good fun.”
As the 105-ft multihull sped towards its Leg 1 destination, Mark reported: “Like a fast train on a downhill run, we are coming in with pace! The boat hums and whistles to the key of “C”, it’s like she’s on that train but listening to her own iPod, nodding her head with the beat and smiling from hull to hull.” The brand new A100 trimaran designed by Nigel Irens and Benoit Cabaret endured a bit of a shakedown in the difficult sea state: “We knew about a small crack in the deck just behind the mast rotate pad eye. There was also a small grub screw to hold it all together that was also dipped in Loctite. It just goes to show that our night of shaking, rocking and rolling took its toll. The shock loads that shudder through the hull and rig are huge. If the outriggers were solid the boat would break up, but like an aircrafts flexible wing, we bend and bow with the moving waves”. The ‘Majan’ crew led by Paul Standbridge includes two Omanis – Mohsin Al Busaidi, who became the first Arab to sail non-stop round the world on ‘Musandam’ and Mohammed Al Ghailani, who as the pseudo-apprentice, continues to impress: “He wears the medal for best-improved crew. He has spent a lot of the time on the helm being coached by Michael Giles. As I type this, he is on the helm pushing consistently good speeds and making the most of the dropping wind pressure.”
The Oman Sail crews will look forward to some rest as the shore team get to work to ensure the A100 is ready to depart for the 4,200-mile second leg from the Maldives to Cape Town, starting on the 16th February – the next chapter in the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race and the infamous Cape Agulhas. ABOUT THE MALDIVES The Maldives or Maldive Islands is an island country in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of 26 atolls stretching in a north-south direction off India’s Lakshadweep islands. Winner of the ‘Indian Ocean’s Leading Destination’ at the World Travel Awards 2008. The atolls of the Maldives encompass a territory spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometres. It is also the smallest Asian country in both population and area and the lowest highest point in the world, at 2.3 metres (7 ft 7 in). Majan’s media crew, Mark Covell who stands at 2m tall, expects to be see most of the 1,190 coral Islands from standing on the deck of Majan! |
|
The Nigel Irens Design Majan, Skippered by Paul Stanbridge Under Sail (Photo by)
On Saturday, 6th February, Oman Sail’s new A100 ‘Majan’ alongside their 75-ft multihull ‘Musandam’ will depart Muscat [Oman] to begin a new chapter in ocean racing as they embark on tracing out the route of the future Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race.
With a total distance of 16,300 nautical miles (30,200km) this new course will take the new 105-foot multihull via the Indian Ocean’s five great Capes: “Today the Atlantic is the playing field for the sailing world’s greatest oceanic races and all the round the world races start and finish in Europe. The new Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race course is 100% Indian Ocean utilizing the boundaries of the Middle East, Africa, Australia and Central Asia,” said Mark Turner, CEO, OC Group, owners of OC Events (Asia). “Professional sailing races have quite naturally developed with an Atlantic flavour in line with the growth of the sport. The actual and potential of growth in the sport in the whole of Asia provides us and other events, such as the Volvo Ocean Race, with a great opportunity to develop new events like this in what are relatively unchartered waters. The launch of the new A100 class – the first being Oman Sail’s ‘Majan’ – presents us with an opportunity to develop this new race track that has both historical and sporting credibility for this class and other multihull classes, and equally commercial interest for sponsors and nations of future competing teams.”
The purpose of tracing out this new course is aimed at raising the profile of the event ahead of the first official edition planned for Spring 2012 with key stakeholder activity planned in the stopover ports of the Maldives, Cape Town, Fremantle and Singapore. ‘Majan’ with a crew of five, will depart Muscat on Saturday [6.2.10] sailing through the tropical waters of Oman past Ras al Hadd (literally ‘Cape’ in Arabic) with their bows pointing towards the Equator. After a stop in the Maldives ‘Majan’ will then head down to the tip of South Africa, crossing Cape Agulhas, and Cape Town. Racing across the frozen and treacherous Southern Ocean will be one of the most exhilarating legs of the course, before reaching the warmth of Cape Leeuwin and Australia’s west coast. From here the boats sail north to Cape Piai in the Malacca Straits close to Singapore and up to Cape Comorin at the southern tip of India before returning the welcoming shores of Oman and the starting point of the journey in Muscat.
‘Majan’ skippered by renowned sailor Paul Standbridge, and including Mohsin Al Busiadi who became the first Arab to sail round the world non-stop on board Oman Sail’s ‘Musandam’ last year, will face many different challenges en route.
‘Majan’, the ancient name of the Sultanate of Oman, is Oman Sail’s new flagship and the first of the new Nigel Irens designed Arabian 100 [A100] one design class: “The main objective behind the creation of this new class is not to take on the ‘classic’ European events but to help pave the way for a thriving professional racing scene in the Gulf region and around the Indian Ocean,” commented Oman Sail CEO, David Graham. “Majan was assembled locally in Salalah and although the crew are led by Paul and two other international sailors, Mohsin has become an accomplished offshore sailor and he will be joined by Mohammed Al Ghailani, as Oman Sail continues to grow and expand the skills of the Omani sailors. There is a great national pride in the project and already other GCC nations are interested in developing similar sailing programmes and we encourage that. Ultimately, if by 2016 we had six big race boats racing on this new Indian Ocean course under the colours of different Middle East and Asian nations, for me, that would be a great achievement.”
OC Events continue to develop the sailing arena of Arabia, Asia and the Indian Ocean. Building on the foundations of the Asian Record Circuit established in 2007, and the Extreme Sailing Series Asia which is being staged this winter in Hong Kong, Singapore and Muscat, OC Events Asia launched its vision for two new premier racing events – the ‘Tour of Arabia’ and the ‘Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race’ – in November 2009.
Extreme 40 Sailing In Hong Kong (Photo by Marco Hong/OC Events )
As the inaugural Extreme Sailing Series Asia gets off to a successful start in Hong Kong (20-24 November), OC Events, organisers of the Extreme Sailing Series, take a look back at the highlights of the 2009 iShares Cup, revealing the key statistics from the series third season, and preview the 2010 European Extreme Sailing Series.
For the planned six events in 2010, four countries are already confirmed, with events taking place in the UK, Germany, France and Spain. Venue announcements will be made over the coming months, but it can be confirmed today that the final round of the Extreme Sailing Series 2010 will take place in the region of Andalucia, Spain, at the port of Almeria over the national holiday weekend in mid-October.
Almeria hosted the 2009 finalé and recently published the results of an Economic Impact Report produced by the Council of Tourism, Commerce and Sport for Andalucia confirming that the event had generated 2.7m Euros of return on their investment. Over 75,000 spectators attended the Spanish event in October this year. A total of 15,000 tourists visited the city, 92% visiting because of the event and 80% of visitors expressed their intention to return. Hotel occupancy was up by 19.2 per cent compared to the same time in 2008, with more than 606,000 overnight stays. The visitors scored the event 8.1 points out of 10, considering the event to be ‘well organised’.
Seven teams who competed in the 2009 European series have already expressed their commitment to return in 2010 ahead of the publication of the official Notice of Race.
Extreme Sailing Series Racing In Hong Kong (Photo by Guy Nowell/OC Events)
The full media evaluation report of the 2009 iShares Cup will be published shortly by independent agency Havas Insight. In the meantime, enjoy some of the key statistics from the highly successful 2009 circuit that saw 48 of the world’s best sailors compete in 108 races across six European venues with only two capsizes, compared to five in 2008, but six collisions…!
To find out more about the current Extreme Sailing Series Asia, CLICK HERE…
2009 FACTS AND FIGURES:
Entries:
BT (EUR) – Nick Moloney (AUS)
Ecover (EUR) – Mike Golding (GBR)
Holmatro (NED) – Carolijn Brouwer (BEL)
iShares (EUR) – Shirley Robertson (GBR)
Gitana Extreme-Groupe LCF Rothschild (FRA) – Yann Guichard (FRA)
Groupama 40 (FRA) – Franck Cammas (FRA)
LUNA (FRA) – Erik Maris (FRA)
Oman Sail Masirah (OMA) – Pete Cumming (GBR)
Oman Sail Renaissance (OMA) – Loïck Peyron (FRA)
BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) – James Spithill (AUS) (Venice/Hyères only)
WIRSOL Team Germany Kiel Sailing City – Roland Gabler (GER) (Kiel only)
Rumbo Almeria – Fernando Echavarri (ESP) (Almeria only)
Sailors:
48 sailors across 12 teams
52 World Championships
17 Olympians
7 Olympic medalists (4 Gold)
27 America’s Cup participations
17 Round the World navigations
11 different nationalities
Racing:
108 races: Venice 17; Hyéres 19; Cowes 20; Kiel 19; Amsterdam 17: Almeria 16
Regatta wins: Oman Sail Masirah 4 (Hyéres, Cowes, Kiel, Almeria); Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild 2 (Venice, Amsterdam)
Number of 1st places: Oman Sail Masirah 36; Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild 19; Oman Sail Renaissance 16 (9 out of the 12 teams, all scored 1 or more race wins during the season)
Best number of race wins per venue: Oman Sail Masirah 11 (Cowes); Oman Sail Renaissance 5 (Kiel, Amsterdam); Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild 5 (Almeria)
2 capsizes: Holmatro at Cowes (practice day); Ecover at Kiel, day 1 (5 capsizes in 2008)
6 collisions: Oman Sail Renaissance hit Ecover (Hyéres); Team iShares hit spectator boat (Cowes); Oman Sail Renaissance hit WIRSOL Team Germany (Kiel) and Gitana Extreme hit WIRSOL Team Germany (Kiel); Oman Sail Renaissance hit Ecover (Amsterdam, practice day); BT hit Oman Sail Masirah (Amsterdam)
7 disqualifications: Groupama 40 (Venice); Oman Sail Renaissance (Kiel); Holmatro, Team iShares and BT (Amsterdam); LUNA and Team iShares (Almeria)
Venues:
Venice, Italy
Hyeres-TPM, France
Cowes, England
Kiel, Germany
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Almeria, Spain
(2007 x 4 rounds / 2008 x 5 rounds)
Spectators (estimated):
2009 200,000
(2007 57,000 / 2008 150,000)
VIP entertainment:
2,124 VIP guests were entertained in the VIP facilities at the six events in 2009
93% of VIP guests agreed that the iShares Cup fell within the top three events they had ever attended.
Majan On Her Maiden Voyage (Photo by Mark Lloyd / Oman Sail)
Oman Sail’s recently launch Arabian 100 (A100) trimaran, will be tracing out the route of two future professional sailing events in Asia over the coming months. The Tour of Arabia will link together the GCC countries from Kuwait in the north to Oman in the south. · This will lead into the ‘Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race’, taking in South Africa, Australia, Singapore, India, via all corners of the Indian Ocean and the five great Capes of the region
The growth of competitive sailing in the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean has today taken a further step forward as the sailing events company, OC Events (Asia), launches two new premier racing circuits.
The entire region is steeped in maritime heritage and legend, and is criss-crossed by a multitude of ancient and historically significant ocean trading routes. Professional and competitive sailing is only just awakening, but development of pro circuits will probably happen faster than the decades it has taken in Europe.
Building on the foundations of the Asian Record Circuit established by Dame Ellen MacArthur in 2007 onboard ‘B&Q’, and the Extreme Sailing Series Asia to be staged this winter in Hong Kong, Singapore and Muscat (Oman), OC Events (Asia) have now launched two inaugural premier racing events – the ‘Tour of Arabia’ and the ‘Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race’.
The launch of the first of the new Arabian 100 (A100) Class trimarans, Oman Sail’s stunning Majan, is the catalyst for the creation of these two new ground-breaking offshore racetracks. On 10 November, Majan will set out from Kuwait City in the north of the Arabian Gulf on a five-leg tour that will cover 1,700 nautical miles (3,150km), to trace out and test the route of the future ‘Tour of Arabia’ race. Stopping in Bahrain, Qatar Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Majan’s voyage will finish in Muscat, Oman.
The ‘Tour of Arabia’ will lead directly into the premier edition of the ‘Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race’. Other than the recent traverse of the Indian Ocean by the Volvo Ocean Race fleet, current traditional oceanic courses only exploit the southern part of the Indian Ocean and above 40 degrees South it remains the most unchartered territory as far as professional racing is concerned, yet it offers a wide variety of tactical challenges and conditions.
Onboard Majan (Photo by Mark Lloyd / Oman Sail)
As with the ‘Tour of Arabia’, Majan will trace out this new course taking the big dive south for a giant tour of the Indian Ocean Capes facing the challenges of all the combined might of the Southern and Indian Oceans. From the heat of the tropics, frustrations of the windless Doldrums at the Equator to the towering waves of the Roaring Forties. Majan plans to set out on the 6th February, 2010, on this 15,000 nautical miles (27,780km) course, that should take between 35 and 40 days including stopovers.
The Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race will pass the Capes of Ras Al Hadd (Oman), down to Cape of Good Hope (South Africa), across the frozen wastes of the Southern Ocean to Cape Leeuwin (SW Australia), past Cape Piai on the tip of the Malaysian peninsula (the southernmost point of mainland Asia, just to the west of Singapore), and back underneath Cape Comorin (southern tip of India) to Oman on the Arabian Peninsula. As the class of large ocean going trimarans like Majan (sistership to Thomas Coville’s Sodebo) grows, it is planned for this to develop as a recurring event on the ocean racing calendar.
Tour Of Arabian Sea Map
Oman Sail’s new A100 Majan, designed by Nigel Irens and Benoit Cabaret, was built in Australia before being assembled locally in Salalah (Oman). David Graham, CEO Oman Sail: “We built and launched Majan, the first Arabian 100 with a plan. We believe that the combination of exhilarating boats and challenging conditions in this economically buoyant region has a real potential for future growth. In conjunction with OC Events, we look forward to racing around the Arabian Gulf, Indian and Southern Oceans this winter and next spring.” Internationally renowned sailor, Paul Standbridge, will skipper Majan alongside Mohsin Al Busaidi who became the first Arab to ever sail non-stop around the world on board Majan’s stablemate, the 75-ft trimaran Musandam back in March this year, and they will be joined by two professional crew and two Oman Sail trainees plus a media crewman, Mark Covell.
Mark Turner, CEO, OC Events: “The launch of the new A100 class with the first sea miles of Majan presents us with an opportunity to develop these two new fascinating racetracks. These courses have both historical and sporting credibility, and equally commercial interest for sponsors of future competing teams. Between the ‘Tour of Arabia’ and the ‘Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race’, we’re visiting 10 key markets, passing through all the corners of the Indian Ocean via five great Capes, and linking the Middle East with Central Asia. Professional yacht racing might have developed with an Atlantic flavour, but the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean remain great unchartered territory for future sailing events.”
