Some of the world's renowned sailors are set to descend upon Muscat to be part of the event from March 16-19. To celebrate its tenth year the series will see a complete refresh in format.

The introduction of a fleet of ultra-fast GC32 hydro-foiling catamarans and a shake-up in racing to include open water and match-racing elements will give skippers and crews some tough new challenges. In previous years the class used as racing boats was the Extreme40.

The teams will get their first chance to open up the throttle and see what the new boats are made of. The first Act of the year will see the fleet racing off the iconic coast of Muttrah before competing along the coastline to finish the day in front of Extreme Club. The schedule will then return to three days of some challenging stadium racing action in front of Almouj Golf.

Commenting on the upcoming ESS opener in Muscat David Graham the CEO of Oman Sail said 'The world will be watching the first Act of the 2016 as the fleet fly on foils for the first time. We are delighted to host the opening Act and to be able to welcome the international sailors to experience Oman which is becoming renowned as one of the best sailing venues in the world. It will be a spectacle for the ever growing global audience and sailing fans in Oman.'

Speaking about the promising showcase of action-packed racing ESS race director Phil Lawrence said 'Stadium racing remains at the core of what we do but in 2016 we will be including a variety of open water race formats to offer the skippers variety and new challenges.'

Oman Sail actively works to position Oman as a premier venue and host country for high-profile international sailing events. In 2013 Oman hosted its first world sailing championship with the Laser World Championships taking place at the picturesque Musannah Sports City.

In 2015 the country hosted the Laser Radial Women's World Championship and the RS:X Windsurfing Championship.