Abu Dhabi, UAE: The University of Plymouth crew on Messe Frankfurt won the first race of the three in-port races, and finished third in the other two, of the EFG Bank Sailing Arabia The Tour.
Yesterday, three races were held in the lagoon between the state-of-the-art facility of Abu Dhabi Yacht and Sailing Club.
Under clear blue skies and in the shadow of some of the UAE’s best known landmarks, eight boats played a cat and mouse game over three in-port races for the latest leg of EFG Bank Sailing Arabia The Tour, the Gulf region’s only long distance offshore sailing race.
By the end of the morning, the competition was on a knife edge, and an exciting leg lies ahead as the EFG Bank Sailing Arabia The Tour prepares to set sail for Dubai tomorrow.
With light but constant winds, and in front of spectators on the water and on the Corniche, the racing was intense and the lighter boats had a field day, with EU student team Messe Frankfurt scoring a win in the first race over crews with many years of racing experience.
The dominate show left university students joint winners of the in-port races alongside substantially more experienced Frenchman and former America’s Cup helm Bertrand Pacé and his AISM crew. Veteran Pacé showed the value of his experience by clawing back a great result to finish equal first for the series with Marcel Herrera and Team Messe Frankfurt.
Just a quarter point separates the two leaders of EFG Bank Sailing ArabiaThe Tour after the second round of in-port racing yesterday.
However the outcome was of less surprise to Messe Frankfurt’s German skipper Marcel Herrera: “We had local knowledge: I’ve lived here for 13 years and I used to sail here. So we won the first race because we knew where to go while the other teams were watching. From there it went a bit downhill, but the whole team did quite well - we didn’t make too many big mistakes. We are all buzzing.”
For more information on the race please visit: www.sailingarabiathetour.com.
The Peninsula
