Muscat: The Oman Sailing Festival swept into Sohar last weekend for the next stop on a winter tour of the country. Encouraging communities to #SailWithUs, the festival offers free sailing and windsurfing lessons and beach clean-up events to help preserve the local environment for generations to come. Held at the Silver Jubilee Garden, more than 400 people of all ages took the chance to learn new skills and give back to the community on Friday 12 and Saturday 13 November 2021.
Ali Al Shuhaimi, Centre Manager of Al Mouj Sailing School and co-manager of the Oman Sailing Festival, said, “We are really pleased that so many people came to Silver Jubilee Garden this weekend to try sailing, windsurfing and para sailing with our SailFree programme. Oman has such a strong maritime tradition and we are making sailing accessible to the current generation. The festival aims to encourage people to try a new sport, challenge themselves and either discover a new hobby or take the first steps towards a career on the water. The events to come at locations across the country will introduce hundreds more people to the sport have a huge impact on the local environment as we inspire the community to care for the wonderful beaches in our beautiful country.”
Next up is Musandam and Al Bassa Beach from 16-20 November 2021 where local SMEs will have the chance to showcase their products to visitors over the five days. Following that, the festival moves to Sur Al Hadeed Corniche in AL Seeb, Muscat, from 26-27 November 2021. The festival will then visit Sur from 3-4 December 2021, Hawana Salalah from 6-8 January 2022 and Duqm from 11-15 January 2022.
This is an incredibly busy period for sailing for the nation. Oman Sail is currently preparing to host the 2021 49er, 49er FX & Nacra 17 World Championships in Mussanah, kicking off on 16 November.
The full calendar continues with Oman Sail’s own Sailing Arabia – The Tour is back, starting once again in Mussanah on 24 November before heading south to Sur and Muscat, concluding on 5 December. The 2021 ICLA Radial World Championships gets underway in Mussanah on 29 November. The final event of the year is the prestigious 50th edition of the Youth Sailing World Championships, a highlight of the season being held in Asia for the very first time.
The Oman Sailing Festival is proudly supported by platinum sponsor OQ, gold sponsors Oman Air and Salsabeel, and environmental partners Be’ah and the Environment Society of Oman. To pre-register for Oman Sailing Festival events, please visit www.omansail.com/sailing-festival-activities or search #SailWithUs on social media.
