Dubai: The annual Dubai-Muscat Sailing Race promises to be bigger and better this year when the first of the boats take to the water on November 2.
One of the most prestigious races organised by the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club (DOSC), the Dubai-Muscat race this year will incorporate a few innovations that will help in the expansion of the event as one of the main sailing races hosted in the region.
Now in its 23rd year, the race already has all the trappings of history and tradition. But this time it will be run on a changed format, while welcoming cruising boats to join in with the racing boats.
In addition, the course will be altered so that participants can take in new destinations along the way, while there will be a premium on safety requirements from the participating teams. Among other innovations, participating boats will fixed with GPS so that onshore viewers can watch the race live via the internet.
The cruising boats will start off on November 2 while the actual racing will start the following day. Organisers DOSC are expecting at least 20 racing boats to participate this year along with a few motor boats, some of whom have already confirmed for the race.
“We want this to be the biggest boating event in the region,” Rear Commodore David Worrall told Gulf News.
The course will take the boats up the west coast of the UAE to the Strait of Hormuz, where boats often face the fierce currents between the Gulf and the Arabian Sea with the scenery of the Musandam Peninsular as their backdrop. This is followed by the offshore leg bypassing the UAE east coast and into Muscat in Oman.
“We want to broaden out this race,” Worrall said. “We want to make it more attractive and we want participants to have more fun.”
Besides boats from the UAE and Oman, there has been considerable interest from participants hailing from the United Kingdom, Kuwait and Qatar.
