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| Action from the penultimate leg of Sailing Arabia- the Tour from Dibba, Oman for the 135 mile leg to Mussanah |
The teams set off from Dibba, Oman for the 135 mile leg to Mussanah, and after a slight delay while they waited for the breeze to fill in, the race started in slow four-knot upwind conditions. Very little separated the fleet as they short tacked up the beach for the first short sprint along the coastline, and as they rounded the headland and left Dibba to stern, the fleet began to split into two groups.
Not surprisingly, the French skippered boats Courrier Dunkerque, Team Commercialbank, and Team BAE Systems led the fleet, with the all women’s team Al Thuraya BankMuscat who have been biting at their heels for a podium position since the Tour started, not far behind. Team Kingdom of Saudi Arabia secured their best start of the Tour, and held a strong position mid-fleet from start to finish.
Negotiating fishing nets all along the coast, the wind began to build, and after 21 miles, the fleet was greeted with a wall of container ships on the horizon. Over a three mile stretch they had to weave between over 200 ships, which Team Bahrain skipper Qassim Abdelrazaq said required shrewd tactics.
“The ships were huge, they completely blocked the wind. It was a case of trying to find the best route through, so you could keep moving. It was incredibly sight.”
Once clear the fleet sailed onto the first gate in about six knots of clear breeze with the sun setting behind them. The French skippers who have been so dominant in the Tour led the way - Courrier Dunkerque out in front with a 12-minute advantage over Team Commercialbank, while Team BAE Systems followed just two minutes later.
95 miles to go and in only four knots of breeze, the fleet prepared for a long night, with two more marks to take in. Battling upwind into erratic rolling seas with waves of over four metres, inevitably some of the fleet faired better than others under the changeable conditions, and current tour leaders Courrier Dunkerque were amongst those who suffered. Team BAE Systems skipper Cedric Pouligny elaborated:
“It was a pretty fun race, we had been battling all day and night with Team Commercialbank and Courrier Dunkerque was quite far ahead of us both. Then the wind dropped and Team Commercialbank and us were better positioned to handle the new pressure than Dunkerque so we ended up in front of them. It was a pretty good leg for us”.
As they approached the third mark, most of the fleet was relieved to learn of the decision by Race Director John –Michel Gandon to finish the race at the final mark, instead of 34 miles down the coast. The news was particularly welcomed Bertrand Pace his Qatari-flagged Team Commercialbank, who had a solid 15-minute lead on the rest of the fleet, enough for them to secure their first leg win, much to their surprise, as Pace explained:
“When we got to the finish line we thought that Courrier Dunkerque were actually ahead of us, as there is just a small light on top of the rig so it is very hard to see them. So when we found out we had won we were very happy! I think we sailed well and worked to improve our speed all the time, even in light winds.”
Team BAE Systems and Courrier Dunerque finished second and third respectively, much to the dismay of Daniel Souben, Courrier Dunerque’s who despite being disappointed with the results, was still in high spirits.
“It was a difficult leg, we are disappointed to finish the leg early because we thought there was more wind coming in so we could have regained places. We feel we have had good races the rest of the legs and a very good Tour.”
The fleet have now turned their attentions to the final leg tomorrow, and they cant help but weigh up how close the points are on the leaderbard. All teams have dis-guarded their worst race result, meaning despite the third place finish in the latest leg, Courrier Dunerque technically still have a clean slate.
Just one point separates third placed Team BAE Systems from second placed Team Commercial Bank, whilst the battle for fourth and fifth is just as intense between Al Thuraya BankMuscat, and Team Renaissance, with just one point separating the Omani-flagged teams.
The fleet has a short rest in Mussanah today (February 26) where they will attend the private gala dinner for the leg five prize giving.
All teams are fitted with onboard GPS tracking systems and can be followed at www.sailingarabiathetour.com