Week-long festival of sailing to feature world championships in three Olympic classes in Mussanah from November 16-21

It is going to a busy period later this year for Oman Sail as it hosts the Asian and world championships between October and November.

While the Asian Windsurfing Championship will be held in Musandam from October 11-6, a week-long festival of sailing awaits in Mussanah when the venue hosts the world championships in three Olympic classes – 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 – from November 16-21.

On Wednesday, Oman Sail announced that it had opened up registrations for the three classes of the worlds.

Oman Sail said that preparations are on for a hectic period ahead as it welcomes hundreds of sailors to Oman, first to Musandam and then at Mussanah.

A 400-strong fleet of the world’s best sailors in 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 classes will arrive for the worlds, which is being held in Asia for the first time.

The worlds will also be the first stop on the road to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games for sailors in the 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 class and offers another chance for the international sailing community to experience Oman’s famed hospitality. 

Weather conditions in November in Mussanah are likely to be ideal for sailing with a wind average between ten and 14 knots and an average temperature of 23°C.

Rashid al Kindi, Oman Sail’s director of sailing, said, “This is a chance for Oman to make history as the first Asian hosts of the world championships in 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17. We welcome the world’s best sailors in all the three classes to our shores. The championships will mark the first global sailing event post-Olympics in Tokyo and launch the qualification campaign for the 2024 Games in Paris. With such a high calibre of talent set to compete, we anticipate an exciting return to the water for the 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 classes. Oman Sail is looking forward to welcoming the world’s best sailors.”

The race will be managed by Oman Sail’s professional race management team in collaboration with World Sailing and 49er class officials. 

Kindi said, “Hopefully, the world will start to reopen by then following the coronavirus pandemic and there will be opportunities for visitors to stay longer in the sultanate. City tours, cultural visits and adventures into the mountains, the sea and the desert will be made available to guests through Oman Sail.”

Oman has earned a well-deserved reputation in international sailing as an impressive host venue, complete with excellent sailing conditions and world-class facilities. Past successes include the 2010 Asian Beach Games, for which Al Mussanah Sports City was purpose-built, the 2013 Laser World Championships, the 2015 RS:X World Championships, the 2019 Asian and Oceanian Optimist Championships, and most recently the 2021 Mussanah Open Championship, a Tokyo 2020 qualification event for African and Asian nations. 

And there is a good possibility for Oman to host the Youth Sailing World Championships, probably in December 2021. It would be the 2020 edition of the worlds, which was due to be held in Salvador, Brazil from 12-19 December, 2020, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The move to rearrange the Youth Sailing World Championships comes following the global challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the rearrangement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games to 2021.