Dubai: Sidney Gavignet and team on reigning champions EFG Bank (Monaco) won the third leg of the EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour from Ras Al Khaimah to Dubai. They have now added another first place to their Leg 1 and first inport race victory which strengthened their overall position at the head of the fleet.
This 760nm six-leg race, which started in Muscat on February 15 offers 14 days of demanding offshore sailing and exciting inport races to test the skills of some of world’s best sailors, including a mix of elite regional and international sailors alongside young sailing talent making their Tour debut.
Commenting after Leg 3, Salma Al Hashmi, Director of Marketing and Events at Oman Sail said she was looking forward to more great sailing. “So far we have seen some amazing sailing as each of the eleven teams has adapted to the changing conditions and pushed themselves to the limit. This is the largest field of any Tour so far, showing the growing popularity of the race and for sailing in the region, blending together a field of world famous sailors, future stars and local talent as we continue to rekindle the region’s maritime heritage through high-level competitive sailing.”
At 53 nautical miles from Ras Al Khaimah to Dubai, this was the shortest leg of the Tour and arguably the most straightforward. It did however produce fresh winds that reached 22kts; the most the 11-strong fleet has seen so far this week. It was also shifty, which resulted in plenty of place changing, particularly in the closing stages.
A fantastic performance saw Kuwait’s Zain Sailing Team, headed by seasoned Tour competitor Cédric Pouligny with Gérald Véniard on navigation, finish second. In third place were Fahad Al Hasni and Team Renaissance. “I am so happy with our result and so happy with the team. They worked incredibly well given the tactically testing conditions. “Although it was all about taking the right shifts, it was also about good manoeuvres and that was something I feel we were good at,” Al Hasni commented.
