Thursday, April 5, 2012

PRIVATEER Dubai Offshore Sailing Report

J/92 sailing off Dubai, UAE (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)-  There is now an amazing amount of sailing taking place in the waters off the shores of the United Arab Emirates these days.  With the traditional dhows now getting turbo-charged and professionally sailed, it's no wonder that "feeder" programs in sailing continue to grow using a fleet of Dubai Offshore Sailing Club's J/22s.  Sailing has grown dramatically in awareness, including the sponsorship by the local "sailing chief", Sheik Muhammad Al-Mahktoum, of the Volvo 70 ABU DHABI Ocean Racing in the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Race.  The following is a quick summary from Matt Britton, owner and skipper of the J/92 #2 PRIVATEER that sails out of Dubai Offshore Sailing Club:

Dubai, UAE sailing area"Continuing on with the J/92 results our season is not over yet but we have now secured the Dubai Offshore series for the 3rd year in a row. This year was a tough with some races in the series of 4 really well subscribe the format is 4 races of various length up to 130nm over the whole season with one discard. We had to miss one race due to work commitments but managed to bullet the other 3, racing against among other a Pacific 50, Landmark 43, Farr 11s, Beneteau 44.7, several Beneteau 36.7s and a Grand Soleil 37.

The best result by far was the 3rd race which was from Dubai to Abu Dhabi into the spectacular Emirates Palace Marine where on the following day we were able to go out and watch the inshore races of the Volvo Ocean Race!

Volvo 70s sailing Dubai, UAE regattaHere were the four races we had to sail:
- Race 1 - Sir Abu N'air Offshore Race;
- Race 2 - Al Jeer Offshore Race;
- Race 3 - Bill Nelson Memorial;
- Race 4 - Neptune Offshore Race;

Sailing results for the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club can be found here.  We also have a great Facebook page (Dubai Offshore Sailng Club) for you fellow sailors wishing to enjoy our escapades in some unusual sailing waters.

More J/92 reports- this from Down Under in Australia
"SELKIE, a J/92 sailed out of The Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club Sydney has won the 20 race, Division 2, Mt Gay Rum Monday Twilight series conducted by The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia  (CYCA )!  SELKIE, owned by Evan Lewis, Chris Antico & Anthony Booth led the series from race 1 and fought off an increasingly difficult handicap & yachts up to 14 feet longer to claim victory. The win by 1.5 points over 2nd place SUPERFINE, a Cavalier 350s, was sealed in the final race.  The J/92 has the option to set either a asymmetrical or standard spinnaker and is raced several times a week on Sydney Harbour and occasionally competes in offshore regattas. The team is eyeing the J 111 after progressing from a J/24 three years ago!"