Dibba, Oman: The Dubai-based Team AISM wrapped up a convincing victory in the EFG Bank Sailing Arabia Tour event by winning the final leg into Muscat.
AISM produced superb performances throughout the Gulf’s only long-distance offshore race’s 15 days and 760 nautical miles to finish ahead of BAE Systems in second and EFG Bank (Monaco) in third.
Nine crews, including a host of elite sailors from the Middle East, in identical Farr 30s took part in the race that took in the coastline of four countries, covering seven legs between Bahrain and Muscat. For the final leg, the fleet was rejoined by Volvo Ocean Race veteran Adel Khalid and his Team Abu Dhabi, who had been unable to compete since being grounded and rescued on leg two.
It was fitting that the final-leg honours went to French America’s Cup helmsman Bertrand Pace and his AISM crew after they dominated the third running of the tour. They won five of the seven offshore legs and set the tone for the in-ports when they claimed three out of three races in Doha. They won the event by a comfortable 10.25 points.
“We enjoyed this year’s event a lot,” Pace said. “We have a good crew — everyone was very focused on winning this race.
“It is much easier when the guys are working like that because we have good speed, good navigation and tactics. This tour was much easier than the previous years because there was less night sailing and more downwind. Conditions were similar to the Mediterranean this year with the thermal effect. But still it is two weeks of racing, so it is hard.”
The pressure in the final leg was on Cedric Pouligny and the crew of BAE Systems, who started just 0.5 points ahead of Sidney Gavignet and EFG Bank (Monaco). In the end, BAE Systems nosed ahead and, although the two boats finished the leg in lowly seventh and eighth positions respectively, this was enough for them to take second and third places overall.
“We had more to lose than to gain, so basically it was a bit of a match race,” said Pouligny. “We had a very good start and were first at the upwind mark and then Bertrand Pace managed to pass us, but he was not really important. Sidney gained on us and was trying to make us go higher until we got separated from the fleet. We were in a difficult position, but we managed to have good speed and stay low.”
The EFG Bank (Monaco) skipper had a few regrets about how the leg panned out. “We had a good race, but we should have gone and got them before the start line,” said Gavignet. “But it was a nice race, a nice fight with everyone.”
After knocking on the door of the podium throughout, Mohsin Al Busaidi and his Renaissance team finally came good on the last leg, taking third place behind Messe Frankfurt.
David Graham, CEO of Oman Sail, organisers of EFG Bank Sailing Arabia — The Tour said: “It has been amazing. The level of competition has gone up, as has the overall standard of the event. I’m particularly pleased with the girls’ boat [Al Thuraya Bank Muscat] and that they have four Omani sailors on board and have shown moments of brilliance. We have had some really interesting conversations in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar, so I’m looking forward to seeing who will be on the start line next year.”
Graham believes that next year’s tour will see more Gulf countries entered, up to 12 to 15 fully-funded boats and a title sponsor.
Among the stars of the race have been Dee Caffari’s all-female crew on Al Thuraya Bank Muscat. Caffari, the first woman to have sailed single-handedly around the world non-stop in both directions, said the final leg was a fine conclusion to SATT, even though they just missed out on the podium.
“We had great wind and good conditions and really close racing. It was intense and a really good way to finish a great event. This was our chance to get on the podium and we missed it by just two gybes. On the finish line all the girls all burst into tears — I was quite emotional for them, but it shows just how much they wanted it. We wouldn’t have got that reaction two weeks ago.”
