Doha: The 47th World Military Sailing Championship, organised by the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces, got off to a colourful start at Katara Beach here yesterday.
The championship was declared open by Major General Thamer bin Ali Al Mehshadi, Inspector General of Qatar Armed Forces.
Staff Major General Mohammed bin Nasser Al Mohannadi, Commander of the Qatar Emiri Navy and chairman of the organising committee, welcomed the guests.
“We welcome all the sailors and officials from different countries for the 47th World Military Sailing Championship. We wish them success,” Al Mohannadi said.
A representative of the International Military Sports Council (CISM) also spoke during the inauguration, which saw a weapons show by Qatari military personnel and a fireworks display.
Sailors from the participating teams took part in a march past while the military band was in attendance during the opening ceremony.
The six-day championship will see 100 sailors from 17 countries taking part, including hosts Qatar, with races beginning today.
The organisers said three races will be held every day starting from today at 9am for the next two days while Thursday is rest day.
The final round of races will take place on Friday and the curtains will come down on the championship on Saturday with a closing ceremony.
The hosts challenge in the event will be lead by Warrant Officer Fahad Abdullah Al Malki, Sergeant Jassim Mohamed Al Sulaiti and Staff Sergeant Waleed Mahmoud Al Sharshani.
Lt (Sea) Hamad Juma Al Sulaiti is the Team Manager
and Gasper Strahovnik is the coach.
Sailors from Canada, Sri Lanka, Germany, Pakistan, Denmark, France, Norway, Poland, Ukraine, Finland, Tunisia, India, Turkey, the USA, Indonesia and Qatar will be competing in the men’s section.
In the women’s section, Russia, Indonesia, USA, Ukraine, France, Germany and Poland will see action.
Originally, 18 nations had confirmed but Brazil withdrew their sailors.
The international jury for the championship will consist of Rafael Iturrioz Lozano, Luca Babini, John Brownrigg, Teo Wee Tee, Jagdish Singh, Leif Rolsted and Haluk Suntay.
THE PENINSULA
