Skippers countdown to start of EFG Sailing Arabia - the Tour 2015 today

-    Boats expected to reach UAE shores February 19th with a thrilling in-port race in Dubai on February 21st

Dubai – February 15th 2015: The countdown to the start of EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour has begun in earnest with all 11 teams putting the final touches to their 2015 campaigns following a series of training races in Muscat. With the start of the fifth edition of this Arabian Gulf endurance classic just hours away, the crews have all tailored their training sessions to their own needs, to make the most of the four day preparation time. The European teams coming in from their cold winters have been acclimatising to the heat, the more experienced crews have been practising their manoeuvres while novices are finding their way around the Farr 30s before the start today. 

EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour 2015 reaches UAE waters in February 19th when the teams sail into Al Hamra Marina and Yacht Club, Ras Al Khaimah before heading to Dubai where they will take part in a thrilling in-port race on February 21st. Leg 4 then arrives into Abu Dhabi on February 22nd.

It had been a useful exercise, said Ahmed Al Maamari, the Omani skipper of Team OMIFCO. “Many of the crew on our boat are brand new to sailing and have done very little training but we are as ready as we can be. We have a lot of work to do on our manoeuvres but we have done a speed test against a couple of the other boats in training and we were better than them which is good. “There are some very good skippers in this race and we hope to learn a lot from them. We are all very excited,” said Al Maamari who is predicting a light airs start on Sunday.

The fleet will cross the start line at the Wave, Muscat following a grand opening ceremony which will be under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Kamil bin Fahd Al Said, Assistant Secretary General for the Cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister for Council of Ministers. The boats will then slip their anchors in sequence and head to the start for the first leg, a 100 mile passage to Sohar, as they embark on what will be an approximately 14 day journey that will take them from Muscat to Manama, with stops in some of the best marinas of the region located in Oman, UAE, Qatar and Bahrain. 

Schedule:
- Leg 1 – 15th February, Muscat - Sohar
- Leg 2 – 17th February, Sohar – RAK
- Leg 3 – 19th February, RAK - Dubai
- Leg 4 – 23rd February, Dubai - Abu Dhabi
- Leg 5 – 24th February, Abu Dhabi – Doha
- Leg 6 – 26th February, Doha - Manama