The result we received for leg 4 of Sailing Arabia The Tour was TLE, time limit expired, as we did not finish within a certain time after the first boat. We were not alone but even so, it is a tough result that does not let viewers know how well we did the good bits of that leg. We arrived in Sohar after a tough 150 miles of sailing in everything from strong winds, to no wind, upwind sailing to downwind sailing and everything in between feeling a little rejected.
We started the leg in amazing conditions, the best we have seen on the event so far. The stunning backdrop of Khasab was soon left behind as we sailed with spinnakers at full pelt round the Musandam peninsula. We were making great progress in third place when the spinnaker fell from the sky. It fell in one piece as the clip on the masthead halyard opened and halted our speedy progress. We recovered well and hoisted the fractional while we made a plan to retrieve the masthead halyard now stuck at the top of the mast. Stacey Jackson went up he rig until she could stand on the fractional kite and pull herself up to the top of the mast to grab the halyard. We kept the boat sailing as steady as was possible and before we knew it we were back hoisting the masthead and back on the pace once again. Stacey was a little battered and bruised but she kept us in the race. We approached the gap with the fleet ahead of us which gave us an indication on the conditions ahead as shifty wind, light patches and strong currents effected the others. With this information we made great progress and got back with the fleet and into the action. The wind had dropped and the conditions were now upwind and light. We passed the first gate of the leg in 3rd place, then we pushed our luck with the headland and stopped in a wind hole. Others behind saw this and avoided the area and sailed around us. We struggled to get going again and never re-joined the pack. We made the mistake of sailing inshore rather than to the more consistent wind offshore and that fatal mistake of leaving the pack.
Stuck in our wind hole we could not keep pace with the fleet and our finish time was not going to be close enough to the first boat to allow us to score on this leg. As frustrated as we were on arrival, we sailed and dealt with what we faced extremely well as a team. I was delighted with the work effort of the Omani girls and was pleased with how they enjoyed the tough conditions. We had some great spinnaker sailing and completed the course albeit slightly later than the rest.
So not the result we wanted but some great sailing and good recoveries along the way. We now face our final leg to Muscat, home of the Al Thuraya Oman Airports Women’s Sailing Team, surely that should incentivise us to sail fast on this final leg of Sailing Arabia The Tour 2016.
We should add our congratulations to EFG Bank to securing their third win in succession. Sidney and his crew have displayed to us all a lesson in how to sail well and consistently in a tough event like this. Maybe next year for us !?!