Monday 20 / October / 2025
Muscat – Day two of Mussanah Race Week came to a close with the top prospects showing their skills in excellent conditions. Four races were completed in Optimist, ILCA 4, ILCA 6, and ILCA 7, and three in the Para Inclusive Hansa 303 class, and several Omani sailors in particular excelled to remain top of the leaderboard.
Al Moatsem Al Farsi of Oman was flawless on day two with four wins from four races to extend his lead in the ILCA 6 competition. Mohammad Al Hammadi of the UAE remains second but the gap is now seven points, and Oman’s Jihad Al Hassani is third – another seven points back. Amina Shah of Kuwait again showed her consistency with two third place finishes to stay the highest ranked girl in the competition and third overall. Oman’s Ibtisam Al Salmi ended the day as the second placed girl and fifth overall.
Hussain Al Jabri also put in another perfect display with four wins from four races on day two to extend his lead over teammate Ali Al Saadi in second and Al Salim Al Hamdani in third. Yaqoob Shah and Salim Qali of Kuwait are fourth and fifth respectively.
The Hansa 303 competition also saw another perfect display. After the team of Zahir Al Atabi and Abdulrahman Al Hamdani won all three races on day one it was the turn of Malik Al Qartubi and Ahmed Zaal Nabout who took first place in similar fashion. Hassan Al Lawati and Adil Al Siyabi remain in third at the halfway point.
Jean-Luc Soaren of the UAE still leads the Optimist fleet by recording another win, two second places and a fourth. Anya Zahedi of Singapore is now level on points after four podium finishes, which included two wins to remain the highest ranked girl in the competition. Yuxuan Li from China moved up a place to second in the girls competition and third overall while Khalifa Al Romaithi from the UAE moved to second in the boys competition and fourth overall. Shreya Krishna Lakshminarayanan from India had a tough day but remains in contention, sitting fifth overall and third in the girls competition. Singaporean Ethan Chia remains third in the boys competition but is now sixth overall. The Singaporean sailor expressed her happiness with the strong performance she delivered during the races and for leading the women’s category. She added that she aims to maintain her momentum, climb to the top of the overall standings.
ILCA 4 leader after the first day, Abdulla Al Zoubaidi of the UAE, continued his strong performances on day two with three second places and a win in the last race of the day. Oman’s Tamim Al Balushi, winner of race six, remains a close second, and Oman’s Abdulatif Al Qasimi moved up to third after enjoying a solid finish with a third and second place in the last two races. Just as there were at the end of day one, there are six Omani sailors in the top 10 and nine in the top 20.
Hussain Al Jabri, the current leader in the ILCA 7 competition, said, “I am very pleased with my performance so far. Training before the event was tough but was good preparation for the races. This is a great experience, and being able to meet and sail with athletes of my age from around the world is an excellent opportunity. We are only halfway through the races and a lot of sailing still to go, but I will do my best to keep improving and finish strongly.”
Ahmed Al Wahaibi, Oman’s ILCA coach, added, “The main thing we as coaches look for is improvement. A positive result is always a great achievement, but the young sailors are on a journey and learning with each race, so we want to see progress more than anything. The training camps and sailing programmes at the sailing schools help to develop their tactical, technical, physical and mental skills, and these races are about implementing those lessons. We have a very good group of young athletes and have high hopes for the future of sailing in Oman.”
There are over 120 young sailors and coaches from eight nations including Oman, China, India, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Macau, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates showing the global appeal of Mussanah Race Week and sailing in Oman.
Racing will continue each day until Tuesday 21 October when the prizes will be awarded for the overall top three in each class, as well as the Junior top three for sailors under the age of 12, and the girls top three, as well as the overall Team Racing competition, and the closing ceremony will be held under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Abdullah bin Khamis Ambusaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education.
A team of 110 volunteers from Oman Sail, Asyad Group, Barceló Mussanah Resort, and event participants joined forces to remove 31 bags of waste, primarily single-use plastics and discarded fishing gear, from the local public beach. The initiative aimed to raise awareness of the importance of protecting the marine environment and reaffirm Oman Sail’s ongoing commitment to sustainable sailing and leaving only footprints on the beach.
Mussanah Race Week 2025 is supported by title partner ASYAD, Gold partner QNB Oman, bronze partners Barceló Mussanah Resort, Mazoon Dairy, Tanuf Water and Visit Oman.
More information about Mussanah Race Week 2025 can be found on the official event website.
