After the first day of racing at the 2021 Asian 49er and 49er FX Championships in Barcelo Mussanah Resort it became clear that the standard is incredibly high and there will be title will be hard fought. Just 15 points separate the top six crews in the men’s and the top nine in the women’s competition with three full days of racing still to come.
A fleet of 50 across all classes representing four countries from Asia took to the waters in Mussanah for the first race keen to show their best form. For the international guests, ineligible to compete for the title, the Asian 49er and 49er FX Championships are a chance to find their groove ahead of the World Championships taking place later this month. As a result, the sailing was excellent and highly-competitive from the very first race.
The crew of Molly Highfield and Sandi Choi of Hong Kong lead from Harshita Tomar and Sweta Shervegar of India after the first day in the 49erFX class, sitting seventh and ninth overall respectively. Dutch pair of Odile Van Aanholt and Elise de Eujter are out in front, holding a very slim lead from Finnish duo Ronja Gronblom and Veera Hokka in second and Lara Granier and Amelie Riou of France in third.
In the 49er class, Indian pair of KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar lead from Akira Sakai and Russell Awylworth of Hong Kong, India’s Anand Thakur and Satyam Rangad and the Omani crew of Ahmed Al Hasani and Abdulrahman Al Mashari with just a point separating second, third and fourth. Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove of Ireland lead overall, level on points with Denmark’s Fredrik Rask and Jacob Precht, and Germany’s Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger tied in third place with Great Britain’s Jack Hawkins and Chris Thomas.
Rashid Al Kindi, Director of Sailing at Oman Sail, said, “This was a great first day of competition in perfect conditions. The skill on show is evident and the international guests are pushing the sailors from Asia to find their very best. If the competition continues at this pace, we are going to see thrilling sailing right to the very end. It is such a privilege to see sailors from around the world compete in Oman once again, and as we build towards the World Championships the competition is only going to get more intense.”
Racing began on the 5th November 2021 with registration and a practice session. Competition takes place every day through to the 9th November when the leaders will compete for honours on the final day.
The event is supported by a line-up of supported including the national carrier Oman Air, OQ and the Barcelo 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.
Full results are available on the Oman Sail website.
