MUSCAT: Oman Sail will be out in force for Cowes Week with their two Extreme 40’s racing, their 105ft Arabian 100 trimaran making a dash over from France and visitors to Cowes will experience a true flavour of Oman with the Oman Experience and Amouage VIP lounge.

The two Oman Sail Extreme 40’s, Masirah and The Wave, Muscat are in Cowes to compete in the second round of the European Extreme Sailing Series.

The duo finished second and third in the first event in France and will be looking to improve their positions over the six days of racing in Cowes. During the week, spectators can get a real flavour of Oman for themselves in the Oman Experience, located in the Extreme Racing Village. Oman Sail is an exciting initiative whose aim is to rekindle Oman’s long and glorious maritime heritage.

Important VIP’s will be hosted at the Amouage lounge during the week including His Highness Sayyid Tariq bin Shabib Al Said, Abdulaziz Al Hinai — Oman’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Oman’s world class racing driver Ahmad Al Harthy and Philippe Georgiou, Chief Corporate Affairs of Oman Air.

Khamis Al Anbouri, who sails on The Wave, Muscat, and recently won the Extreme 40 class in the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, explains why Cowes Week is so significant to Oman Sail.

“Cowes is a really important event, not just for the Extreme 40’s but for Oman Sail. Majan will also visit Cowes and add a really exciting element to the week and it will be brilliant to reveal Majan’s new Oman Air branding at such a prestigious event. Sailing in Cowes is always a great experience and to have so many members of our team here makes it really special”. Joining Khamis is fellow Omani national squad member Nasser Al Mashari, fresh from finishing the Tour de France à la Voile, where he finished an impressive fifth place onboard Oman Sail’s Renaissance. Nasser was part of the winning Masirah team in the Extreme Asian Series.

Volvo Ocean Race winning French yachtsman Sidney Gavignet will be making the crossing from Lorient, France to Cowes onboard Majan Oman Air, the giant 105ft Arabian 100 trimaran. Sidney is preparing to compete in the prestigious Route du Rhum, the single-handed transatlantic 4,000-mile race starting in Loriet, France in October. Majan will be displaying the colours of her newly announced sponsor, Oman Air.

The sponsorship aligns Oman Air, Oman Sail and the Ministry of Tourism’s marketing strategies in Europe, with all three taking an active role in the Route du Rhum project and this will mark the first time the new branding has been revealed in public.