Oman Sail claims gold and silver at Kuwait International Regatta 2023

MUSCAT: Oman Sail’s youth sailing team has returned home from the

Kuwait International Regatta with four medals, including gold and silver in the Optimist

Junior category. The competition took place at Messilah Beach and featured some of the

very best young sailors from across the region as part of a 33-strong fleet representing eight

countries.

Hood al Noofli claimed gold in the Optimist Junior, open to sailors under 11 years of age,

while Hasan al Alawi took silver in his first regatta outside of Oman.

Tamim al Balushi also won silver in the Optimist Overall competition after a hard-fought

contest with Idriss Dardouri of Tunisia. The pair traded first place finishes over the first six

races, each winning three, but Tamim narrowly missed out on gold by just four points after

what was a very strong performance by both sailors.

The team, coached by Sultan al Zadjali, National Team Coach, also featured siblings Yousuf

Ahmed al Motawa and Sultan al Motawa and Jibreel al Harthi.

Commenting on the progress of his team, Sultan al Zadjali said, “Our team is very young,

and the sailors are all at different stages of their development. To be able to perform so well

and win medals at this level is a huge achievement and proves that the hours of hard work

has paid off.

“Conditions were difficult – it was very cold with strong winds of between 15 and 25 knots –

but our team coped very well and showed their resilience. We will continue to improve and

prepare the team for future regattas where they will have more chances to learn, improve

and represent Oman on the water,” he added.

In addition to competing, two Oman Sail coaches were invited by the organisers to be part

of the Race Committee. Ahmed al Qasmi and Ghalib al Mamari gained valuable experience

in adjudicating and running a regatta and will look to build on this in the coming months.