Muscat – Eleven nations from across the Middle East and North Africa are all set to fight for honours at Barcelo Mussanah Resort for the Arab Sailing Championship, which starts on Tuesday.

The five-day championship, back after a three-year hiatus, will feature 120 sailors competing in Optimist, ILCA 4, ILCA 6, ILCA 7, RS:X and iQFOiL windsurfing and RS Venture para sailing.

A strong 23-member team will carry Oman’s hopes and they will fight it out against sailors from Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and the UAE.

Hamed Al Yahmadi, the event project manager, said: “This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for our young sailors to test themselves against their peers from across the Arab world. The championship is held for the first time since Egypt 2019 and it is an honour to bring it to Oman and the Barcelo Mussanah Resort for the premier youth sailing competition in the region and we are delighted to welcome all the sailors and coaches to Oman.

“We are looking forward to seeing how our sailors perform on home waters ahead of a busy period for the teams. This is the start of a long journey that could lead to the Olympic Games in the future. We are also very pleased to include para sailing and para sailors from Oman, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, as the sport makes progress towards inclusivity and demonstrating the opportunities in sailing for all.”

The Arab Sailing Championship is proudly supported by the Barcelo Resort Mussanah, Oman Air, National University of Science and (International Maritime College), National Mineral Water Company (Tanuf), and environmental partner the Environment Society of Oman.

Alongside the sailing championship, the next leg of the Oman Sailing Festival, will also take place in Mussanah. Running from October 12 to 14, the festival offers free Try Sailing, Try Windsurfing and Try Kitesurfing sessions to visitors, as well encouraging the local community to join in with a beach clean-up event to help preserve the local environment.