Muscat— Day two of Oman Sail’s Mussanah Race Week saw an incredible action across all five categories with Omani sailors ending the day on top in three.

Perfect conditions promised great sailing and it certainly delivered. Four races were completed in ILCA 4, ILCA 6 and ILCA 7, while Optimist completed three and RS Venture Connect sailed two, setting up a strong second half to the week as the leaders began to break away.

Oman’s Al Moatsem Al Farsi put on a masterclass in ILCA 6 sailing on day two, winning three of the four races to soar from fourth place overall to lead.

Teammate Salim Al Hamdani was in equally fine form, winning one and finishing in the top three two more times to rise from fifth to third. Othman Al Hammadi of UAE split the two to finish the day in second. Hatem Al Araimi is currently fifth, Elyas Al Fadhali is sixth, and Meshari Al Hadhrami finished in eighth with all to play for on day three.

Husain Al Jabri continues to lead in the ILCA 7 competition with a further three victories to stay ahead of Hamza Al Ali from UAE. Abdulmalik Al Hinai is currently third, just one point behind Al Ali, and Ali Al Saadi finished in fourth.

In an all-Omani fleet, the four RS Venture Connect crews all switched places on day two. Ghaliya Al Jabri and Malik Al Qartobi moved from fourth to first with three victories, bumping Zahir Al Atbi and Ahmed Al Shikili into second just two points behind, and Sultan Al Wahabi and Adil Al Siyabi into third a further three points back. Sami Al Sulaymi and Hassan Al Lawati will start day three in fourth place, but just seven points separate first and fourth meaning it could all change yet again.

It is a UAE one-two in the Optimist competition after four races as Abdulla Yahya recorded one win and one second place to takeover the lead from teammate Khalifa Al Romaithi in second. Adison Ein from Thailand moved up to third. Oman’s Tamim Al Balushi found his form to rise from eleventh to fifth. Hassan Al Wahaibi remains in eight, and Khamis Al Mashaikhi and Firas Al Nabhani ended the day in eleventh and twelfth respectively.

The ILCA 4 leaderboard as dominated by India after the first day, but Abdulatif Al Qasmi won two races and finished in the top three in two more to move up from fourth to second. He trails Eklavya Batham of India by just one point while opening a five-point gap to Shashank Batham of India in third. Oman’s Saleh Al Balushi is currently sixth, just ahead of teammate Firas Al Hashmi in seventh and Aws Al Busaidi in tenth.

Racing continues every day until the final tomorrow (Monday), 7 October 2024 where the winners will receive their prizes.

As well as organising Mussanah Race Week, Oman Sail has supplied two highly experienced officials to the race jury committee. Saleh Al Jabri and Ali Ambusaidi join the Jury Chief from Singapore and a representative from China in ensuring the rules are adhered to and any protests are settled amicably.

Saleh Al Jabri said, “Race Juries are a very important of every regatta and make sure the races are contested fairly, using authorised equipment, and within the rules so that all sailors can compete on equal terms. If there is an official dispute, we evaluate the claim and make a decision. It is a great honour to be selected to be part of the Jury and a role we are all very proud to have at Mussanah Race Week.”