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The race is on to book a place for Oman’s increasingly popular Mussanah Race Week as registration opens for the 2018 event in January.

Now going into its eighth edition, the Oman Sail organised regatta has year-on-year since 2011 attracted a growing number of young international sailors to the world-class Mussanah Sports City venue.

The 2017 event saw fierce competition out on the water involving more than 120 youthful racers representing 20 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Germany, Hungary, Malta, Peru, Singapore and Sweden. The many Omani sailors taking part distinguished themselves, taking four gold medals from the seven finals held.

With Mussanah Race Week entries limited, competition for a place at the event in 2018 looks likely to be equally hard fought.

Mussanah Race Week will be held from January 11th to 17th with classes for Optimist, Laser 4.7 and Techno 293 windsurfers.

Four days of racing will be preceded by three days of coaching and a practice race, with training camps for each of the classes provided by world-class international professional racing sailors.

The training camps on offer will include on-the-water sessions focused on boat speed, boat handling, starts and race tactics. Lectures ashore will cover race strategy, rules, fitness, nutrition and psychology.

“Following years of hosting successful sailing championships, Mussanah Sport City has become known as an ideal venue for international events, with its perfect wind conditions and world-class facilities,” said Salma Al Hashmi, Chief Marketing Officer at Oman Sail.

“Oman Sail has developed great expertise in putting on events such as Mussanah Race Week to bring young sailors from around the world annually in a competitive and friendly environment where they can learn new sailing skills and put what they have already learnt into practice,”

“We look forward to welcoming these young sailors to Oman to develop successful sailing paths and make great strides in building their future careers.”

Located 85km north of Muscat and 60km from Muscat International Airport, Mussanah Sports City combines a beautiful Batinah coast location with state-of-the-art regatta and visitor facilities. It has been the venue for several international sailing events, including the 2013 Laser World Championship and 2015 Laser Radial World Championship.

Oman Sail, in conjunction with the Millennium Resort at Mussanah Sports City, is able to offer a full Mussanah Race Week event package which covers entry fee, boat charter, airport transfers and accommodation, available to sailors, coaches and supporters. A tailor-made travel package offer by Oman Air will also be available soon.

Online registration for Mussanah Race Week is available at https://mussanahraceweek.com/registration/

The Optimist Champions League returns to Mussanah Race Week 2016 with more competitors than last year, including the defending champion, Daniel Ian Toh; number one girl in Europe, Ariadni Spanaki; and the number one girl in North America, Mia Nicolosi; as well as four of the top six Optimist sailors in the world.

In addition to the Optimist Championship, this year’s Mussanah Race Week will also feature a Laser 4.7 and Laser Radial class featuring an international fleet and a strong Omani contingent.

Mussanah Race Week will start on 17 January 2016 with an opening ceremony at Al Mussanah Sports City and racing will begin on 20 January, with a prize giving ceremony on 23 January.

The event will serve as ideal preparation for the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship, due to be held in Mussanah in December 2016, and give talented young sailors thee chance to experience the venue and Omani waters ahead of the event.

Oman’s best young sailors found themselves under pressure at the 2016 edition of Mussanah Race Week, organised by Oman Sail, but stepped up to the plate to confirm a strong all-round improvement against the best talents in the world. According to observers, performance levels in the Optimist class were markedly higher than in previous years with one of the favourites Lucas Vidella from Argentina sweeping to a resounding overall victory with a dominant display and Daniel Ian Toh from Singapore, last year’s Mussanah champion, in second place.

Al Moatsem Al Farsi, who won the best Under 12 prize in 2015 was Oman’s best performing Optimist sailor with a clutch of top 10 finishes from the gold fleet qualifiers and finals, to achieve 21st out of a field of 105 young sailors, many of whom were champions in their own countries and regions.

Four other Omani youngsters, including girls champion Samiha Al Riyami, were happy to finish in the top half of the fleet while another 23 sailors, drawn from Oman Sail’s sailing schools around the Sultanate and sampling international competition for the first time, contributed to Oman’s set of promising results.

Former Optimist national champion Zakariya Al Wahabi showed his move up into the Laser 4.7 class had posed few problems when he pulled off four straight wins from 12 races to become champion, fending off challenges from a strong Finnish contingent with Marwan Al Jafri coming fifth.

There was also an Omani winner in the Laser Radial class where Hussain Al Jabri proved the most consistent performer of 18 contenders, including four representatives from the Sultanate.

“There was a very high level of racing in the Optimist class and many competitors who were competing at Mussanah Race Week for the second time said they thought it was harder in 2016,” said Oman Sail Youth Manager,  Mohsin Al Busaidi, the first Arab to sail round the world non-stop.

“It was a very worthwhile experience for the Omani kids because they were exposed to a level of competition that they might only come across at a world championships so they learned a great deal. We had wonderful conditions all week with 25 degree heat and between 8 and 15 knots of breeze so it was very successful. The Laser fleet was not as competitive as the Optimists but it was still a challenge for the Omani kids and they did well.

“Most of them had raced Optimists so it was useful for them to experience the next rung on the ladder. We were very happy with the numbers of overseas sailors and many said they would be back next year which is encouraging,” Al Busaidi added.

The Mussanah Race Week came to a final showdown under the patronage of His Excellency Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Balushi, Majlis Al Shura Representative in Mussanah. This year, Mussanah Race Week featured two additional sailing classes, the Laser Radial and Laser 4.7, for the first time since 2011, with some of the world’s best young sailors coming to enjoy ideal sailing conditions combined with some intensive coaching.

Some of the world’s best young sailors are set to descend on Al Mussanah Sports City for Mussanah Race Week 2016, which for the first time will feature two new classes the Laser Radial and Laser 4.7.

Around 160 athletes, including Optimist World Champion (Girls) Jodie Lai from Singapore and last year’s winner Daniel Ian Toh also from Singapore, will use the opportunity of Mussanah Race Week to enjoy ideal sailing conditions combined with some intensive coaching.

A leadership and personal development session on the first day, run by Oman Sail Corporate and Personal Development team, will kick off a busy round of opportunities for sailors to share knowledge and tips which, for the less experienced youngsters, are rated as favourably as honing sailing skills on the water.

Among those athletes, who represent 21 nations, are around 51 young Omani sailors, plucked from Oman Sail’s Youth Programme. Also attending sailors from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait who are set to descend to the shores of Mussanah.

They will get a one off opportunity to fast track their racing careers by watching and imitating the more established sailors who also include the top ranked girl in Europe Ariadni Spanaki and her counterpart in North America, Mia Nicolosi.

Whether their knowledge is picked up on the race course or in the boat park or from the coaching schedule, the experience will be invaluable, said Mohsin Al Busaidi who heads up Oman Sail’s Youth Programme.

“Mussanah Race Week is starting to feature on more and more racing schedules for Youth coaches all over the world because it represents an opportunity for good competitive racing in great conditions at a world class venue.

“We started Mussanah Race Week in 2011 as an Oman Sail event and have worked hard to make it one of the top world class contests for youth in the GCC and one that increasingly is recognised in the international calendar.

“We especially welcome our new Laser Radial and Laser 4.7 guests though a few might have raced here before since Mussanah’s reputation as a first rate venue capable of hosting some of the sport’s signature events is growing faster than we could ever have imagined. We are lucky enough to have an international fleet of Lasers here and are very proud to field a strong Omani contingent. We wish them all well.”

Mussanah Race Week will start on 17 January 2016 at Al Mussanah Sports City and racing will begin on 20 January, with a prize giving ceremony on 23 January.

The event will serve as ideal preparation for the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships, due to be held in Mussanah in December 2016, and give talented young sailors the chance to experience the venue and Omani waters ahead of the event.