Muscat – Hosts Oman’s Tamim al Balushi and Mayed al Ali of UAE are level on points at the top of the Optimist leaderboard going into the final day of the Arab Sailing Championships at Barceló Mussanah Resort, Al Masnaah, on Friday.

Mohammed al Marzouqi of the UAE is third while Oman’s Abdulateef al Qassmi is fourth. Firas al Nabhani ended the day in tenth, while teammates Hood al Noufli and Hassan al Wahaibi are close behind in 11th and 12th.

In the women’s category, Egypt’s Karma Walid Mohamed continues to excel, leading by 16 points and sitting third overall. In second place currently is Malak al Doseri of Bahrain and Talia Hussein Emad of Egypt remains in third.

UAE’s Othman al Hammadi extended his lead over team-mate Alharith al Ali to 15 points in the ILCA 4 class, while Khalifa al Doseri of Bahrain moved ahead of team-mate Waleed Daraan into third. Ganna Mohamed Shaalan of Egypt leads the women’s category and ended the day fifth overall, 30 points ahead of Asmaa Wael Mahfouz of Egypt. Algeria’s Ourabah Sofia moved ahead of UAE’s Ghala al Beshr into third.

Almutasim al Farsi of Oman retained the lead in the ILCA 6 class, moving 12 points ahead of Bahrain’s Dawood Abdullah in second. Ahmed Younis of UAE who had a great day moved up one place to third.

In the Women’s category, Egypt’s Khouloud Moustafa Mansy is second overall, nine points behind Al Farsi and seven points ahead of Algeria’s Karassane Mallia.

Oman’s Ali Alsaadi suffered a disqualification in the first race of the day and despite fighting back well to win the second, ended up surrendering his lead to Abdullah Al Janahi of Bahrain in the ILCA. Adil Khalid of UAE remains a close third after a good day of consistent racing. Omani sailors Abdulmalik Al Hanai ended the day in fifth once again, hot on the heels of the leaders, and Abaraa Al Noufli is not far behind in seventh overall.

The top three in iQFOiL ended the day just as they started it, with Oman’s Abdulmajeed Al Hadhrami in first, nine points ahead of fellow Omani Omar Al Qartobi in second and Mehdi Guembri of Tunisia, who is a further two points behind, in third. Abdullah Al Sarahi of Oman is currently fourth.

Oman are dominating the proceedings in the RS Venture class as well. The team of Malik Juma Al Qartoobi and Ghaliya Al Jabri continued the excellent form they have shown all week and now lead by four points from their Omani teammates Sami Al Sulaimi and Naser Al Rahbi who recorded two second-place finishes and one win.

Saleh Al Tuwaylie and Turki Al Khawaji of Saudi Arabia stay third and the Egyptian team skippered by Ahmed Salman Abdulwahid ended the day in fourth.

Sailors will compete for medals on Saturday with the final three races in all classes. The top-performing nation will also claim the Nations Cup trophy.

The final day of the Oman Sailing Festival at Barceló Mussanah Resort continued to introduce visitors to the sport with free Try Sailing, Try Windsurfing and Try Kitesurfing sessions.

Friday’s main event was a beach clean-up programme, organised in partnership with the Environment Society of Oman. In total, more than 30 people took part and collected of litter from the beach and the sea as Oman Sail and ESO reaffirm their commitment to conserve the environment and protect the natural habitat of the region’s rich marine life.

The final day of the Oman Sailing Festival at Barceló Mussanah Resort continued to attract visitors to the sport with free Try Sailing, Try Windsurfing and Try Kitesurfing sessions.

Friday’s main event was a beach clean-up programme, organised in partnership with the Environment Society of Oman. In total, more than 30 people took part and collected of litter from the beach and the sea as Oman Sail and ESO reaffirm their commitment to conserve the environment and protect the natural habitat of the region’s rich marine life.