Dibba, Oman: The Dubai-based AISM team took a firm grip on the EFG Bank Sail Arabia — The Tour standings with a decisive victory in the fifth leg from Ras Al Khaimah to Dibba.
Skipper Bertrand Pace and his crew made it four offshore leg wins in a row and, with nearest rivals BAE Systems finishing down in fifth, they now hold a 5.75-point lead that will be extremely difficult to topple.
Saturday’s next stage takes the nine-strong fleet to Mussanah, ahead of the expected race finish in Muscat on Monday.
Speaking following the potentially decisive leg to Dibba, Eisa Al Esmaili, director of events of race organiser Oman Sail, said: “Congratulations to team AISM, who by claiming their fourth leg win have taken control of the third edition of the tour with only two legs remaining. For all teams, arriving at Zighy Bay is a moment to cherish. Not only are the crews a significant step closer to finishing, having safely navigated the Strait of Hormuz, but arrival to Dibba is amongst the most spectacular stretches of sailing in the world.”
AISM led for the duration of the leg, but they came perilously close to losing it, with significant concerns at both dusk and dawn. “The difficulty when you are the leader is that you are always the first one to fall into a hole and then everyone goes around you,” said AISM navigator and Tour de France a la Voile veteran Herve Gautier. “Bertrand [Pace] is very good at judging angles and at staying conservative with the fleet and we took turns to have enough sleep, so we were always very alert.”
The fleet passed through the Strait of Hormuz at night and on down the eastern side of the Musandam Peninsula, when the wind disappeared for the best part of two hours. Over this period, the fleet went from being spread out over 10 miles to regrouping and effectively restarting.
“When we got caught by the others, our plan was to be closer to the shore,” said Gautier. “At one point we were afraid that it might have been the wrong choice, but once again we picked up the wind first. So it was a restart, but being in front, you get the breeze first. However, the danger was once again to fall into a hole. Fortunately that never happened.”
Behind AISM, Dee Caffari’s team on Al Thuraya Bank Muscat and the Dutch students on TU Delft were the first out of the wind hole, while Sidney Gavignet’s EFG Bank (Monaco) somehow kept pace.
BAE Systems, lying in second place overall at the start of the stage, got trapped in the light winds for the best part of two hours, leaving them in an uncharacteristic sixth place, eight miles from the leader.
