(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman joined the ranks of recognised world-class racing venues after hosting three back-to-back regattas at Musannah as part of the 2013 Laser World Championships that ended last weekend.
Until 2013, Oman had never hosted a sailing world championship of any sort, but on November 24, after two years of preparation and planning by Oman Sail and the Ministry of Sports Affairs, the world's best Laser sailors lined up at the start of the Laser worlds.
Over the next six weeks, 393 sailors from 51 nations lined up at the start of three separate world championships ending on January 3 when the curtains came down on the Laser Radial Youth World Championship.
It was Brazilian legend Robert Scheidt who dominated the headlines in the first week despite storms wreaking havoc across the region, and the wind in Musannah averaging around 15 knots.
Could the eight-time Laser World champion make a miraculous comeback having spent nine years out of the class, racing in Stars, and reached 40 years of age? Scheidt seemed uncertain too, and started out softly.
But on the second day, he swept to his first win, and by the end of a marathon third day, which comprised three races in a challenging 15-knot breeze, no one was in doubt about either his fitness levels or his thirst for success.
His margin of victory at the end was a whopping 13 points over Pavlos Kontides of Cyprus, and an emotional Scheidt said his ninth World Championship title was his best yet. ''I didn't know what to expect when I came back into the Lasers, but winning the worlds after a tough seven days means a lot. I am at a different stage of my life - being a dad and being away from Laser sailing all these years makes it more special,'' he said.
The Laser Masters started a week later with an impressive line-up of 186 men and women aged between 35 and 81, flying in from all over the world to flex their muscles, settle old scores and have some fun as the Musannah breeze reverted to type with a ten-knot sea breeze kicking in each afternoon.
Peter Seidenberg, the 76 year old American who attended Laser Master championships since they were launched in 1980, beat his old rival Keith Wilkins of Britain for the first time to take the 2013 Radial Great Grand Masters title.
There was a popular win for Australian Vanessa Dudley in the Radial Grand Masters and Ian Brown of Britain in the Radial Apprentice class.
Scott Leith from New Zealand recently switched to the Laser Standard rig from the Radials, but he was unbeatable in the Standard Apprentice class.
There were close competitions at all three events, but the closest and best was saved for the last as the top Laser Radial Youth sailors in the world arrived in Musannah to further their fledgling Olympic careers.
It was a wide open field on day one when 51 boys and 28 girls took to the water and it remained wide open until the very last race when a tenth place from Hungarian Benjamin Vadnai was calculated to be enough to win the 2013 Youth World Championship title, beating 16 year old Italian Gianmarco Planchestainer by a single point.
Monika Mikkola from Finland had a similarly close tussle with Norway's Celine Therese Herud, and again the margin was a single point. At the start of the week, Monika had described the venue as a ‘sailing paradise' and by the end, she wanted to carry it around for her entire career.
Planchestainer would have won the regatta had he not been docked points by the Jury just hours earlier for not completing a penalty turn after hitting a mark, but he returned to Lake Garda with the U17 title and a greatly enhanced reputation.
The girls' U17 title was won by pint-sized 16 year old Karyna Manuel from Britain, who revealed she was also training to be a professional footballer.
According to Issa al Ismaili, director of the championships and director of events in Oman Sail, ''The Laser worlds have successfully raised the sultanate's profile as a sailing destination. The legacy of the Laser World Championships will encourage more young Omanis to engage in sailing and inspire the youth sailors to develop their skills and pursue their Olympic aspirations."
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