A regatta in the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series will take place in the Middle East for the first time next year. As host, the Sultanate of Oaman will open the series on 27 and 28 February in Muscat. The curtain will be raised here for a total of six fast-paced catamaran regattas in 2016.
The area has long been familiar to America's Cup stars such as Sir Ben Ainslie (Land Rover BAR), Dean Barker (SoftBank Team Japan) and Franck Cammas (Groupama Team France), who is on the mend after his training accident. Muscat has been hosting high-calibre catamaran regattas for years.
The sailing area in Oman is characterised by almost ideal sailing conditions with generally constant breezes of between ten and 15 knots of wind and a warm, sunny climate. In recent years, an increasing number of prominent regattas in Olympic classes have been held in Oman, including the Laser and Laser Radial World Championships. Philipp Buhl won world championship bronze here in 2013.
The Sultanate of Oman will be the first host of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series next year. Sailors can look forward to a sunny opening to the 2016 sailing season
The driving force behind these sailing activities is the national sailing initiative Oman Sail, which was founded in 2008 and has established sailing as a new national sport in Oman. Thousands of girls and boys have now been introduced to the sport of sailing. The flagship of the campaign is a Mod 70, and teams flying the Oman flag have already won the Extreme Sailing Series twice.
The title defender and rights holder in the 35th America's Cup cycle is the American Golden Gate Yacht Club, whose Oracle Team USA wants to defend the most coveted trophy in international sailing off Bermuda in 2017. Along the way, the America's Cup World Series regattas will take place on smaller catamarans. The teams will compete for the America's Cup in May and June 2017 on 15-metre foiling catamarans with wing sails. There are no German teams or German sailors at the start. However, the main sponsors include BMW, a German company that is involved in both the defending champions' team and the America's Cup.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
