MUSCAT: The Oman national youth racing season kicks-off on Wednesday when sailors from all four Oman Sail schools compete at the Oman Sailing Championships. Hosted by the Musannah Sailing School for the first time, the local racers will be joined by fellow Oman Sail youngsters from the Al Mouj Muscat, Sur and Marina Bandar Al Rowdha schools. The sixth Oman Sailing Championships features the results of a new scheme to identify talented young sailors who are taking part in Oman Sail’s Community Sailing Programme. The sailors are competing in Optimist, Laser 4.7 and windsurfing classes.
“We have around 350 youngsters taking part in the community programme at each of our four sailing schools, and the new project identifies the best 20 from each one to take part in a summer sailing camp and then compete in Musannah,” said Mohsin al Busaidi, Oman Sail’s Youth Sailing Development Manager.
“At the same time one of the event objectives is to choose the best sailors to take the next step on the development programme and join the Race Club.”
Meanwhile, the Oman Sailing Championships is also playing a valuable role as a test event for the International Optimist Dinghy Association’s (IODA) 2019 Optimist Asian & Oceanian Championship which starts in late September at Musannah Sport City.
Racing at the championships will be divided into two stages. Young Optimist sailors under-11 level 2 beginners’ category will race from Wednesday to Saturday, August 3. Over the same period Optimist, Laser 4.7 and windsurfers in the Advanced and Professional categories will train, and then go on to race from August 4 to 7.
“The Oman Sailing Championship has always provided a great environment for our young sailors to test themselves and represent their schools,” said Rashid al Kindi, Oman Sail’s national sailing team manager. “As well as being an important test event for the major IODA international championship in Musannah later this year, this year the event will give the sailors three-times more points than they would normally receive at the Oman Sailing Championships or Youth Sailing Cup which will help their progression along the development path.”
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