Not to Oman, obviously, where it's nearly always hot and sunny and a 12 knot southerly cuts in like clockwork in the afternoon, though the weather for the 49er training camp last week was mostly of that order. Hashim Al-Rashdi and Musab Al-Hadi were guests of Weymouth Sailing Club last Thursday with their trainer Alain Champy, former head of logistics at the French Sailing Federation and an old friend of WSC since those pre-Olympic training years. WSC member Jez Rees was able to both reminisce with Alain and chat to Hashim and Musab about Omani sailing venues, which Jez knows well.
Hashim and Musab explained that sailing in Oman is a very recent sport, dating officially from 2009; the government has put a lot of money into developing training schools, and the two of them were among the first athletes to be selected from a group of around 500, in a process which involved a lot of press-ups and the like! Hashim has qualified also to sail on Extreme 40s, and the two 49er sailors are looking forward to qualifying for the Olympics.
In spite of its short history, Oman Sail has not been slow to make its existence known around the world: Raiya Al Habsi made history by becoming the first Arab woman to compete in the classic Fastnet race and becoming the first Arab ever to be nominated for the prestigious Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award, while the MOD 70 Musandam-Oman Sail, broke the Round Britain and Ireland record by over 16 minutes in 2014, thrusting Oman Sail into the international limelight.
We look forward to developing our contact with this ambitious team when Hashim and Musab decide to bring their 49er to train out of WSC...
To find out more about Oman Sail visit http://omansail.com/eng/home/
Steve Fraser
Submitted on 18th May 2015