The opening day of the 2021 ILCA 6 World Championship fell victim to an uncharacteristic lack of wind in Barceló Mussanah Resort, resulting in the scheduled races being cancelled. Action will resume tomorrow with 72 ILCA 6 male and female sailors ready to go when the conditions allow.
Racing is due to take place every day until 6 December 2021. A diverse women’s fleet features several of the world’s top ten female sailors in the class, including 2020 Laser Radial Olympic Champion, Anne-Marie Rindom of Denmark, world number two and 2018 World Champion, Emma Plasschaert of Belgium and world number four, Elena Vorobeva of Croatia. Agata Barwinska of Poland, currently ranked sixth in the world; Maxime Jonker of the Netherlands, ranked eighth; Vasileia Karachaliou from Greece, ranked ninth; and Marie Barrue from France, tenth in the world going into the tournament, will also be taking part.
The Men’s race includes Abdulmalik Al Hinai, Almoutasim Al Farsi, Hallie Al Saasi and Al Bara Al Noufli, four of Oman’s best ILCA 6 sailors, who will all be looking for a strong showing on home waters. Richard Marcus Arge, Karel Ratnik and Tristan Šaraškin all representing Estonia, Nik Pletikos of Slovenia and Umut Eyriparmak of Turkey will provide tough competition over the next five days.
Hamed Al Yahmadi, ILCA 6 World Championship project manager, said, “We are disappointed not to have any racing today but this is the nature of the sport. We are at the mercy of the elements and we have no choice but to wait. This is a good opportunity to conduct some final equipment checks, rest and recover before racing commences. The sailors enjoyed two days of excellent practice beforehand so we are sure that when the wind picks up again, they will be ready to go and we will see the high standard of sailing expected from some of the world’s best in the ILCA 6 class.”
The event is supported by national carrier Oman Air, OQ and the Barceló Mussanah Resort as official partners, and Be’ah as environmental supporter. The National Mineral Water Company Salsabeel Water provided all essential water supplies for the event while the Royal Navy of Oman provided medical support throughout.
