The podium winners at the EFG Bank Sailing Arabia The Tour, first place Team AISM, second place BAE Systems and third place finisher EFG Bank Monaco pose for a picture at the end of the race.
Dibba, Oman: A superb performance by Team AISM throughout the 15 days and 760 nautical miles of EFG Bank Sailing Arabia The Tour has seen the Dubai based crew sail to victory in convincing fashion in the third edition of the region’s only long distance offshore race ahead of second place BAE Systems and third place finisher EFG Bank Monaco.
Nine world-class crews including a host of elite sailors from the Middle East completed the unique sailing challenge and showcase endurance race around the coastline of four different countries, covering seven legs between Bahrain and Muscat.
The culmination of three year’s development of offshore racing in the region, this season delivered on its promise of being the most competitive and successful yet involving some of the world’s and region’s most accomplished sailors all competing in the ideal sailing conditions of the Arabian Gulf.
A fitting end to the event was that honours on the leg should go to French America’s Cup helmsman Bertrand Pacé and the crew of AISM who have constantly dominated the race.
Over the last two and a half weeks they have won five of the seven offshore legs and set the tone for the in-ports when they claimed three out of three races in Doha.
AISM won 2013 EFG Bank Sailing Arabia The Tour by 10.25 points.
“We enjoyed this year’s event a lot,” said Pacé.
After knocking on the door of the podium throughout EFG Bank Sailing Arabia – The Tour, Mohsin al Busaidi and his Renaissance team finally came good on this leg taking third place behind Messe Frankfurt.
Starlets of the show, regardless of where in the GCC they visited, have been Dee Caffari’s all-female crew on Al-Thuraya Bank Muscat.
Caffari, the first woman to have sailed singlehanded around the world non-stop in both directions, said yesterday’s leg was a fine conclusion to the Tour, even though they just missed the podium.
“We had great wind and good conditions and really close racing. It was intense and a really good way to finish a great event. This was our chance to get on the podium and we missed it by just two gybes. On the finish line all the girls all burst into tears - I was quite emotional for them, but it shows just how much they wanted it – we wouldn’t have got that reaction two weeks ago,” Caffari said.The Peninsula
