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Sailing Arabia roars towards Abu Dhabi

The longest leg of EFG Bank Sailing Arabia – The Tour sets sail Wednesday afternoon for Abu Dhabi.

The second of the seven stage event that takes the nine teams clockwise around the GCC states, starts from the Qatari capital of Doha to Abu Dhabi — the first of three stops in the UAE.

At 159 miles long and with the possibility of light winds, the organisers prudently catered for this leg taking as much as two days, but the forecast is now indicating a much breezier ride east-southeast towards the UAE’s Capital. The result is that the crews are now expecting to only spend one night at sea, but the ride will be a shorter and very much more intense one.

Earlier in the week, the forecast showed that the boats might experience as much as 30 knots but the forecast has thankfully moderated since then. “I am not so sure the wind will be so strong. The last forecast we got was showing a maximum of 17 knots, although it is stronger to the east,” said Bertrand Pacé, who is hoping he can follow up on Tuesday’s success when his Team AISM won all three in-port races, elevating them to third place.

In reality, given the conditions it is unlikely that any of the crews will sleep during their one night at sea. Winning will be all about the crew that can push itself hardest, right through until the moment they cross the line on Thursday morning.