Nawras Oman Hobie 16 National Sailing Championship 2008

16th September 2008
On the 5th anniversary of this event it was with great commitment and support that Nawras once again sponsored this dynamic and challenging sailing championship, featuring the greatest number of Hobie 16 catamarans ever seen in the Sultanate, as 27 teams fought to secure the title of Oman National Champion.

Three Omani teams from the Ministry of Sports Affairs proved that the current sailing training programme for Omani sailors has really taken off with a very impressive final placing of 9th overall for Suleiman Khamis Al Wahaibi and Abdul Latif Al Wahaibi. With a real mix of sailors comprising five teams from Dubai, two teams from Abu Dhabi, two teams from the Castaways of Oman and the host sailing club PDO Recreation Club making up the balance, the racing between the 54 international sailors was guaranteed to be extremely competitive.

With a schedule of nine races over two days, spirits were high amongst the teams particularly with the anticipation of the forecasted Easterly wind of 12 knots expected to hold for the duration of the Championship.

Representing Nawras at the event, Chief Commercial Officer, Tore Solberg, was at the start line to wish all the participants smooth sailing and commented, “It is most appropriate for Nawras to support this thrilling championship which draws our attention to Oman’s beautiful coastline and the sea that has been such an important element in the Sultanate’s history. This event also gives us a chance to highlight our reliable offshore network coverage. Whether fishermen or those simply enjoying the water for recreation and sports, our customers can rest assured that they can even enjoy our world class network coverage as far as five kilometres from shore.”

Day one saw the fleet settling down to some very impressive starts especially from the local team of Tony Van Thiel and son Paul Henri with numerous port starts across the fleet to take the days’ advantage of tide, current and wind with the inshore route into the PDO bay. The rest of the local Oman fleet approached the line with accuracy and speed but even with this local knowledge available, it couldn’t stop Malcolm and Sue MacGregor being the overnight leader, followed closely by PDO team Pascal Richard and Ines Duclairoir. With such a large fleet in each race and constant challenges at every mark rounding and finish, several teams crossed the line within just seconds of each other after 45 minutes of racing.

Day two started with a North Westerly wind of around 10 knots, however due to local knowledge of this type of wind being experienced so early in the day, the race committee knew that they had to wait for the swing to the East around lunchtime as the heat builds up over the impressive Hajar Mountains and Sumail Gap. Sure enough, as though someone had flicked a switch, at 13:00 hours the wind swung and settled into a steady 15 knots with gusts of a few knots more, to give perfect sailing conditions for these exciting twin wire catamarans.

The fleet had many challenges, with a slightly altered course from the previous day, the downwind gate became a dilemma, however, with strong performances from the top teams especially from Barnaby Houk and Helen Morgan with two first places in row, the eighth race and potentially last race of the regatta was the race for all to secure their positions in the final ranking. As each team finished and passed behind the start boat you could see the smiles beaming back to the committee that everyone had a fantastic time on the water.

With results computed, the competitors gathered around the Nawras Championship award table eager to see their standings. Senior Race Officer and Hobie Nationals Chairman, Dave Clark, commenced formalities with an introduction and thank you to Tore Solberg, Nawras Chief Commercial Officer as well as Guest of Honour for the Championship.

Presenting the Nawras trophies to the winning teams, Solberg said, “I have been watching the Hobie 16 National Sailing Championship for the last four years and there is no doubt that the event is becoming more competitive and better organised with each passing year. It is fantastic to see the spirit and partnership among all the teams. The fact that boats have joined from the UAE and for instance Sabine and Volker have come back to compete despite having moved to Abu Dhabi, shows the popularity of the event. I congratulate everyone for a fantastic competition and thank Dave and his crew for their great organisation. Nawras is very happy to have taken part as the main sponsor for the last two years as part of our commitment to support sporting activities in the Sultanate that benefit an extensive range of different interests in our community. It has given us a great opportunity to get closer to many of our customers and tell them more about the great value, pleasingly different service and excellent quality that Nawras gives.”

Clark expressed special gratitude and thanks to Nawras for so generously supporting the event for a second year and to all the committee who had worked so hard to make it all happen, in particular Mac McCourt, who provided constant and ever reliant assistance with the course laying, adjustment and rescue services. Clark also thanked all competitors for their excellent sportsmanship skills and invited them to attend next year’s event, which is sure to break the 30 boat entry threshold.

On behalf of the Hobie Nationals race committee, Clark also thanked Lorna Messeder of Nomad Tours for the wonderful support in providing the start committee boat Shamsa, together with her captain and crew, for the use of the race committee.

Nawras currently covers 96% of the population with its world-class network, using national roaming where necessary and always with Nawras great value.

Results:

Best placed Omani Team, 9th place overall:  Suleiman Khamis Al Wahaibi and Abdul Latif Al Wahaibi – Ministry of Sports Affairs

4th place:   Pascal Richard and Ines Duclairoir – PDO

3rd place:   Klaus Mueller and Jane Nicolson – PDO

2nd place:   Barnaby Houk and Helen Morgan – Abu Dhabi/Oman

2008 Nawras Oman Hobie 16 Champions: Malcolm and Sue MacGregor – Dubai

Full results are available at: http://www.rahbc.pdorc.com/Sailing/Sailraces/2008-Hobie-Nat.htm