09th April 2010
INDIAN OCEAN FIVE CAPES RACE
[http://www.indianocean5capesrace.com] & TOUR OF ARABIA
[http://www.tourofarabia.com]
Leg 4 Fremantle-Singapore: Majan is on her way
After a busy and very successful Australian stopover, Oman Sail's
A100 trimaran 'Majan' left the dock this morning, en route to
Cape Leeuwin where she will embark on the penultimate leg of the
Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race course that the Majan crew are tracing
out for the first time. As media crew Mark Covell reported by
phone shortly after having hoisted the sails, "We are sailing in
bright sunshine, on a very bumpy windward beat towards Cape
Leeuwin, with Australia on our port side." The Majan boys are in
for a few rough hours before being able to head North with the
wind gently pushing them!"
Mark Covell continues: "We left the dock waving goodbye to a
large group of spectators who had turned out to send us on our
way. Then we were followed out to our city start line by a
couple of local boats. We are in about 15 knots of wind heading
South. When we reach Cape Leeuwin, we will re-cross our finish
line from Leg 3, and then pick up our Indian Oceans 5 Capes Race
course, and turn and head northwards up towards Singapore. We
should reach the line in the early hours of the morning, which
is a shame as we wanted to see the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse. It's
one of the three major Southern Ocean Capes, along side Cape
Agulhas and Cape Horn."
The 15-day stopover has seen a lot of activity aboard Majan, with
some technical refinements being implemented, but mostly an
impressive array of guests, spectators and VIPs turning up to
see the giant trimaran up-close and to learn more about the
Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race ahead of the first official race
planned for 2012. On the public side, people were invited to
view Majan at the Fremantle Sailing Club. Crew member Mohammed
Al Ghailani was there: "By 4pm groups of individuals and
families started arriving; it was beyond our expectations. Over
150 people came to see Majan and were shown onboard! The amazing
turn out of individuals, families, teenagers, children and
professional sailors actually made our day. Every one was
impressed not only with Majan, but with our beautiful country
and the vision and mission of Oman Sail as a project. It made me
so proud being part of this race and representing my country. It
has also confirmed to me that the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race is
not just a race, it's a unique race linking nations and humans
from different races and cultures, making this world a better
place."
Coming back to Fremantle after a well-deserved break in Oman with
his family, Mark Covell consigned his impressions in his blog:
"My first impressions are that the boat has been tweaked and
perfected taking Majan even closer to race spec (…) The next few
days it's all about the media," he added. Reporters and press
from Fremantle's broadcast and print media took up the
opportunity to sail on the A100 including Channel 10 News, ABC
Radio and the West Australian: "We have invited an eclectic mix
of Australia's travel, yachting and consumer media to sample the
dynamic sailing experience of Majan. From two scheduled sails we
ended up with 3! 18 guests experienced a sail on an A100!" Mona
Tannous, Manager of Oman Tourism in Australia & New Zealand was
one of the guests in Fremantle. "The first group of guests have
just come off the boat, totally raving about the experience. I
myself was dumbfounded yesterday when I finally saw her in 'real
life' so to speak," she said.
Next port of call… Singapore, where hopefully the giant trimaran
and her crew will receive a welcome as warm as the one they just
experienced in Australia!
Leg 4 preview - Cape Leeuwin / Cape Piai
Majan will have to re-cross the longitude of Cape Leeuwin in
order to get the clock ticking on that fourth leg, since the
Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race course is strictly a "cape to cape"
affair! As Sidney Gavignet explains, "It will take us a good 10
hours to get there, with the wind on the nose. It will not be
very fun, but it's good to study the behaviour of the boat
upwind. The following portion should be more pleasant, with
downwind conditions for a few days. From Sunday night, the
breeze seems to vanish. The end of the leg might be a bit on the
quiet side." Majan will head North, leaving Australia to
starboard before taking the Sunda Strait, separating Java and
Sumatra then crossing the Equator and finally arriving in
Singapore. The initial ETA is between the 19th and the 21st of
April…
Majan on YouTube…
Sailing reporter, Sebastian Destremau of DesTopNews, flew to
Fremantle to film Majan and speak to Sidney Gavignet to find out
more about the A100 and the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race project.
You can watch the French version on You Tube now - English
version will follow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=YTwCCg9rrxY&feature=player_embedded
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTwCCg9rrxY&feature=player_embedded]
# < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTwCCg9rrxY&feature
=player_embedded
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTwCCg9rrxY&feature=player_embedded]
#> >
OC Events is part of the OC Group that began as Offshore
Challenges over a decade ago. From small beginnings the company
has grown rapidly to an all-encompassing sports marketing
business now known as OC Group. OC Group is a sports marketing,
management and communications company for professional sailing,
adventure athletes and sailing events. The Artemis Transat, the
Barcelona World Race 2007, the Asian Record Circuit and the
Extreme Sailing Series in Europe and now Asia, are all organised
by OC Events. OC Events Asia activities also includes the
inaugural Tour of Arabia and Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race. The
group also has a dedicated technology development division (OC
Technology) and an integrated creative design and web
technologies business (OC Vision).
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