via Worth the effort for tired crews as Sailing Arabia reaches the capital – The National.

 The 296-kilometre leg, from Doha to Abu Dhabi, was the longest of the Tour, and unlike the downhill run from Manama to Doha in Leg 1, the fleet sailed in light to moderate headwinds and was obliged to navigate past oil rigs, no-sail zones and heavy shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Jean-Michel, the race director.

 Raya Al Habsi, one of the four Omani women competing with Al Thuraya BankMuscat, who finished fourth, said the leg was “tough” and described her all female crew as “pretty tired”.  Continue reading...

Hello from Doha!

Leg 1- a question of sail choice:  

Well – it was a nice day of sailing from Bahrain to Qatar in the end. The day started quite early with an estimated 7:30 am start off the dock. The wind was forecast to be 25 knots from northwest and then drop throughout the day and go right. It did abate – but it didn’t go right as we thought. I am going to try my friend Jon Bilger’s site, PredictWind, tonight for tomorrow’s leg to Abu Dhabi.

The race started with a short upwind,then to a tight reach (where one had to decide between a fractional spinnaker and staying with a jib), then bearing away to a spinnaker to head across qatar and down the side to Doha. Unfortunately it turns out the fleet has been given different shaped fractional spinnakers- there are two types: a reaching flat one and a fatter, bigger one for downwind. We were given the latter which means it was not the good sail for that leg and explained why some got a jump out. There is no changing them (had I known I might have been able to ‘borrow’ one from one of the myriad good Farr 30 teams in U.S.). But you sail with whatcha got so it will be what it will be.

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Ouch! First race lesson learned:  

The Omani girls were naturally excited and nervous. Apparently so much so that Intesar did not bring her waterproof team issued jacket. That is akin to going hunting without bullets; running without shoes, or hockey without helmet and pads…I gave her a load of sh@$#t and then gave her mine to wear, put a jacket she borrowed off one of the non-sailors to try to protect too much water going down my neck. I thought my shoulders were going to bust that little purple jacket wide open- like the hulk. So if you see pictures of me wearing a purple jacket at the start- that is why! Some thought to let her learn her lesson and get wet, but the fact is if she’d got wet that early, she would become chilled and not very functional and then we would have a person down to manage instead of a crew member. I knew I was tough enough to handle being wet and I had a spare thermal top to change into if needed. Needless to say, I think the lesson was learned.

The finish:  

We finished around ten at night, but the fleet had to wait for everyone to make the long motor in with escort vessels. The skyline was amazing- reminded me like Vegas! It took about an hour to get docked, then clear customs. Afterward the teams took buses Andre descended upon the hotel. Needless to say bed wasn’t achieved until after 1:30 am…. Phew.

We finished fifth- middle of fleet within striking distance of 2-4 boats. Maybe one or two missed opportunities for a pass but otherwise we were all bunched pretty close. We were encouraged by our speed but it definitely highlighted areas to work on- one being communication. This is always ripe for improvement in any organization, but with a team of five nationalities it definitely is a top priority…

Day 2- racing in the harbor:  

Today was boat work and a short, for-fun race in the harbor. We treat these as opportunities to bring the reserves on and continue their training. It all is pretty loose so low stress. We took media onboard, furthering the global outreach of the story of the Omani women. Down at the harbor we saw men and women alike in full Arabic dress – covered and head dresses to boot, taking pictures of us and marveling at the women’s team. The message continues to be a fantastic one.

Good news is that the temperature had taken a noticeable turn for the warmer. We have entered med-Iike temperatures! Beautiful.

Tomorrow – the LONGEST leg- 296km dodging oil platforms!: 

Tomorrow takes us to Abu Dhabi- the longest leg I believe. There will be many oil platforms and various other obstructions to watch out for  as well as scoring gates where we could be finished if the wind dies. Interestingly I was told tonight that the organizers have set it up where they could stop a leg anytime, have all the boats then continue to motor on, then do a restart at any point if the wind picks up! I don’t know how that will work but it will be intriguing to see how that plays out.

Tomorrow off the dock at 9:30 am.   Wish us luck!

Sent from my iPhone

Catching Althuraya @BankMuscat_oman in Qatar’s water #sailingarabia twitter.com/OmanSail/statu…

— Oman Sail (@OmanSail) February 13, 2012

Hello!

You all probably saw the press release by the race officials regarding the delay of our start. The wind was definitely in to the 30+ knot range. There were white caps in the protected bays by the hotel and apartments- no small feat! Today was the grand opening and we were very lucky to have royalty come for the opening- Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (born June 30, 1975) is the second son of the present King of Bahrain, Sheikh Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah and his first wife, Queen Sabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa.  (I uploaded a video of his arrival to youtube). He has a white head dress with a complicated folding at the back off it. Very handsome man… It was a well attended opening, with the CEO David Graham speaking about the race and its importance in the region. Each skipper also spoke briefly about their team and their thoughts about the race. Dee Caffari, our skipper, warned the mens’ teams to watch out- the women were coming after them. Our esteemed guest had a good laugh about that and later told Dee to go get ’em.

There is a Saudi Arabian team here competing, largely made up of ex-pats. And of course, their skipper couldn’t help himself -speaking after Dee- that their intention was to beat the women. (!) Really? Did you have to go and actually SAY it? Crikey… If that’s how its going to be played- GAME ON.

The rest of the day was spent by the teams taking care of little boat jobs, looking at weather, team briefings and packing. Tonight we will make the food for tomorrow’s journey, have one last look at the weather and then go to bed. Currently, it is forecast for 20 knots from the northwest and it will slowly drop throughout the day. The trip from Manama, Bahrain to Doha, Qatar should be around 11 hours. We were warned about a huge fire in the sky by a large natural gas plant as we get closer to Doha, i.e. don’t be alarmed. Because we will be arriving late in the evening, the in-port race will be short. Incidentally, we were also told that the in-port races did not count for points, that they were about taking esteemed guests out – so a pro am race which helps garner excitement and interest in this event. I believe at one of the UAE stops we will be taking out the first arab woman to climb everest, which will be quite cool.

On another topic- I was having a look at international news and I found a piece that clarified why I was held up in Bahrain customs seemingly over the fact that I was an American lawyer…

2 American women arrested during protest in Bahrain

By the CNN Wire Staff
February 12, 2012
The two American women, Ms. Arraf and Ms. Sainath, had entered on tourist visas and attended illegal protests. “The advocacy group Witness Bahrain said both Arraf and Sainath are human rights lawyers. They were in the Middle Eastern country as part of an effort to have more civilians from different nations on the ground to monitor the situation.”…

Hmmmm- well I believe they were able to look up the sailors and find out that I in fact was going sailing and not going to be getting involved in the political goings-ons and so I was able to go through. I did have a moment though, where I thought “Huh- what if they won’t let me enter? That will really be a bummer. More the point- I can’t believe that I will have to fly all that way back after just getting hear!” It was an eye-opener, however, as were all the police check points we had to go through to get to the hotel. And no- they weren’t DUI stops! This a dry country….

It will be a very early morning. Up at 5:30, to the boat by 6 am and off the dock by 7 am. Currently the plan is to start by 8 am. Wish us luck!

from the Detroit Free Press, my hometown newspaper!

When you think of the Straits of Hormuz, you may have a picture of Iranian torpedo boats buzzing like horseflies around huge American warships, or tankers steaming to and from oil ports in one of the busiest waterways in the world.

So what’s a woman from Port Huron doing in the middle of all that on a 30-foot sailboat?

If you’re Katie Pettibone you’re racing with an all-female crew in the second annual Sail Arabia, a 900-mile race along the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula from Bahrain to Muscat.  Continue reading…

Hello!
The start of the Sailing Arabia race has been postponed by one day due to weather. It was forecast to be 28 knots with sizable waves. Fun for downwind run, but very on the edge for these boats. Carnage would have been certain and with the night factor (ie honing downwind in the dark) the risk ratcheted up quite a bit. There is the added factor that this a traveling event so support gear is very limited. They don’t have machines available to fix the sails that would break, enough rope to replace halyards, nor are there enough spares for broken rigging. Today was a taste of the weather at 25+ knots and big waves. There was some damage that will keep the shore crew busy tonight!  One boat broke it’s spinnaker while another broke a D2 (which is a piece of metal rigging that helps stabilize and hold mast up) I think delaying was a very smart decision and I applaud the organizers for it.

During training, the Omani girls were drilled on what it would be like to fall into the water in foul-weather gear. Tahira (Behind), Khalood, Intesar and Raiya had to swim around a finger dock to boat, so we could evaluate their swimming skills.

We will have good wind on Monday and it will be daylight which makes things that little bit more easy as well. Crash gybing and losing someone over the side of the boat in the dark is a nightmare to deal with.  We went for a sail- smashing around in the waves. It was really good to take our race and reserve Omani girls out as we never have had them out in that much breeze or waves. The Tour isn’t normally like that but it is good for them to experience how difficult it is to move around a wet, bucking bronco. The octaves of the voices indicated the surprise but then they seemed to get a little bit more used to it. It isn’t easy when the boat is heeled over on it’s ear!

One interesting note- I arrived very very late because of the disaster started by United Airlines. When I finally got here to Bahrain it was 2 am. Every country is different so after hunting arou d a bit and watchibg others, I figured out where to find landing cards to fill out. One of the sections asks for occupation, of which I wrote “lawyer”. Figured it was easier to understand than lobbyist… Nevermind that I am coming in to sail or am leaving by boat so I don’t have a return ticket- the thing that bothered customs was that I was a lawyer! I had to write and swear I wasn’t going to be working as one here. Now it should be remembered that Bahrain did have some activity from the Arab spring and apparently there is still some activity. I am guessing there may be concern that an American lawyer was going to get involved in that? After I finally got through customs I headed to the hotel. Sadly my roomates locked me out and so it took awhile to rouse them to let me in… A wee bit tired today! Can’t say I am sorry to have one more day to catch up on sleep, which I am going to do now…

Tomorrow- more tweaking of boat, route checking and team briefing.

Till then”
Katie

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXQmxGRXVaw?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

Sail World’s recent article — Sailing Arabia The Tour – Caffari and crew undergo intense training offers skipper Dee Caffari’s thoughts on the progress of the Omani women:

“The four selected sailors to join the professional crew onboard Al Thuraya Bank Muscat have now been split into a race crew and reserve crew. We have trained both in the gym and intensively on the water, undertaken overnight sailing and also raced with the boy’s teams. The progress of the whole crew has really been impressive and it is incredible to think that the Omani girls had not stepped foot in a boat before the start of October.”

Read the full article here: Sailing Arabia The Tour – Caffari and crew undergo intense training

Today’s announcement by the Pearl Qatar, Qatar Sailing and Rowing Federation and Oman Sail reveals details of the second edition of Sailing Arabia- The Tour – the only yacht race around the GCC, including the inclusion of a women’s team:

For the first time there will also be an all women’s team, Al ThurayaBankMuscat, led by British round-the-world sailor Dee Caffari. The team, which includes four Omani women, will compete as part of the Oman Sail Women’s Sailing Programme, which was launched in October 2011.

The women have undergone a rigorous selection and training programme which has not only qualified them as professional dinghy sailing instructors, but has seen them become Oman’s first professional female sailors.

Click here to read the full article: UAE Reveals Their Participation

Hello!

This segment has drawn to an end. How time has flown! I have been really fortunate with friends and international connections putting me in touch with people here in Muscat that now are new friends. Isn’t this world great?? Part of that chain brought me to the U.S. Embassy, where I was able to connect to discuss any security concerns that I might face in the race. Can I just say- our guys are fantastic. I am so lucky to be American. (corny I know, but there you have it)

However, getting INTO the embassy was another matter altogether. I must say, all my 80’s-coldwar- Hollywood inspired visions of immediately running in and being welcomed with open arms for simply being a U.S. citizen were dashed as getting in was more akin to Fort Knox. And probably rightfully so… All embassy row is guarded by Omani military. And a guy stationed on the road in front of our embassy was very Terminator-like.  No pictures allowed of anything! Inside the first security perimeter, was through more Omani Military, scanner where I had to leave passport, phones, ect., behind.

Then it was time to go to the next area where it was a Spartan reception area (although nice) and more security behind bullet proof glass. After I was fetched by the people I had come to see, I finally saw the inside which was beautiful lush oasis- waterfall, trees, greenery, and beautiful architecture. WOW! Who knew! Anyway, back to the security question- I got briefed and I think we will be fine, particularly as I can’t imagine us being outside of the territorial sea for too long of any of the countries. Although there has been pirate activity off of Oman it was south of where we would be or well outside of the territorial limits.  Plus, as it was pointed out to me, the Omanis have taken a hard line against the pirates, shooting first, asking question later, so if anyone attacked us- an Omani yacht- they would have a death wish.

Later that day was the press conference on the team. The focus being on the Omani women and what the goals of Oman Sail are in having this all-women’s team, as well as why Bank Muscat was sponsoring the team. It was well received and royalty that attended seemed really to enjoy the girls’ answers to the media’s questions of their experiences with us and how they were finding it. Although much of it was in Arabic, we did catch that the physicality and the training was one of the hardest things they had found. That is the nature of professional sport… The next day we heard radio interviews with an Oman Sail representative, and the country is definitely taking notice and where it will lead women’s sports.

On my last day practice before heading to the airport, the Omani girls were very sad to see me go. Although I pushed them taking no excuse on the boat or in the gym, I was also their biggest cheerleader (in a no-nonsense kind of way, such as “Pull harder and use your legs. See? Of course you can do it.”)   When I came back to Oman after Christmas I brought little gifts from D.C., decorative plates with the Washington monument and the Capitol. I told them it represented the start of our country and one of core concepts – everyone is equal. In our training I have pushed them hard and taken no excuses. We are competing against top male sailors and to win we must push. I hope that they continue to train hard and keep in mind these lessons. Next stop Sacramento and then…. Bahrain.