Saturday 27 / April / 2024
Muscat: The dazzling success of Oman Sail’s Youth Programme has earned further backing from Omantel which has extended their support to three years as an endorsement of past achievements and future plans. An outstanding performance from the young sailors and their coaches has created an Omani momentum in youth sailing in the GCC region as well as a strong platform for development in world-class competitions working towards Olympic qualification.
Last year, the team dominated the 2015 GCC Championships in Abu Dhabi in April with 12-year-old Samiha Al Riyami crowned the GCC Optimist Girl’s champion and Marwan Al Jabri and Oman’s first ever National Optimist champion Zakariya Al Wahabi taking gold and silver in the Optimist Boys competition.
In August 2015, a squad of five youngsters then travelled to Poland to represent Oman for the first time in the Optimist World Championships and made a promising debut with improved performances at the Optimist African Championships in Algeria early October -- a win in the open Team event and a top 10 place for Zakariya Al Wahabi -- and the 2015 Optimist Asia & Oceanic Championships where Almoatasem Al Farsi achieved an excellent 15th place in a field of 119 sailors and all six members of the squad qualified in the gold fleet, demonstrating once more the strength of the team.
This year, Al Farsi was the best performing Omani youngster in the Optimist class at the 2016 Al Musannah Race Week, where he finished in the 21st place against more than 100 other young sailors, many of them national and regional champions, from all over the world.
During the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Oman and the Extreme Sailing Series Act Muscat, the young champions competed in two special races and got a chance to chat with the superstar skippers in both world-class events.
Nurtured in the programme, Oman’s Youth Squad reclaimed the first place position in the Optimist team racing at the 8th edition of the GCC Sailing Championships held last March in Bahrain, with other young Omani talent dominating the podium. It was the third first- place team win in the GCC Championships for Oman’s youth team after winning gold in Optimist Team Racing in 2013 and 2014, then silver in 2015.
Plans for the future
Mohsin Al Busaidi, who was the first Arab to sail around the world non-stop and currently Oman Sail’s Youth Team Manager, has wasted no time in setting out his plans for the future. “This talented young squad has been doing exceptionally well in the past few months, meeting the targets in terms of performance. My aim is to take it up to the next level by giving the kids extra focus so they can reach their goals and achieve their ambitions,” he said.
The year 2016 has already offered the youth sailors with plenty to get excited about, said Talal Al Mamari, Omantel’s Chief Executive Officer.
“The harder we work on our youth programmes today, the bigger will be the prospects tomorrow – for the kids, for the supporting organisations, for Omantel and most importantly for Oman. This is what has persuaded us to extend our commitment to the youth programme. Our future depends the youngsters and we want to do all what we can to ensure the opportunities are open for them,” he said.
Al Mamari highlighted a number of activities as part of their partnership with Oman Sail, including the running of special sailing courses for Omantel employees and a “Sea and Land” event held during the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Oman and the Extreme Sailing Series Act Muscat, where Omantel stationed a camp on the shore to engage with their customers while Oman Sail take to the water to demonstrate the joy of sailing. Omantel also launched a loyalty programme where members qualify for special water-sport offers such as diving and try sailing.
“This partnership is an extension to Omantel efforts to support Omani talents in various fields and affirms the company’s leadership in supporting youth and sports in the Sultanate,” he concluded.
Paying tribute to the partnership, David Graham, CEO of Oman Sail said: “It is an important milestone that Omantel continue to work with our organisation and we thank them for their unwavering support. The youth programme is a pillar of our strategic plans and together our aim is to take the youth of Oman to the very top of sport.”
In recognition of Omantel’s extended support, a group of young sailors all wearing medals won in the last few months presented a colourful Optimist boat to the Omantel CEO Talal Said Al Mamari and employees as a gift of appreciation to be placed in the Omantel Headquarters.
