(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:
"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!
Here 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!"
