Dubai: The tactician of Team Sea Dubai is confident of an even better showing during the second edition of the RC44 World Sailing Championships.
"We have come here with a lot of hope and expectations for even better results," Markus Wieser told Gulf News from the team's base in Italy.
The Team Sea Dubai is on its final leg of preparations for the second round of the RC44 World Sailing Championships to be held in Cagliari, Italy from April 22-26.
The team landed in the Italian port town earlier this week to commence their campaign for this season after skipping the first round held in the Canary Isles off Spain in the first week of March. Cagliari will play host to the second round later this month. The season will end at the Mina Seyahi Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) in Dubai with the fight for the RC44 Gold Cup.
Team Sea Dubai's German tactician Wieser is hopeful of yet another strong showing from the Dubai team sponsored by Shaikh Majid Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Culture and Arts Authority.
After extensive training for the crew, that includes some of the top international sailors such as Matti Paschen, Tom Auracher and Tom Swift and along with Emirati sailor Yousuf Bin Lahej, who has been named as the skipper.
The Team Sea Dubai held extensive training in favourable conditions in Dubai all through the latter part of 2008 and early 2009.
At the end of the inaugural season last year, Team Sea Dubai ended in a creditable sixth overall. The overall honours went to Team Banco Espirito Santo, while Team CEEREF came in second and Team Hiroshi Citta di Milano was placed third. Team Aqua and BMW Oracle Racing ended before Team Sea Dubai for 2008.
"It has been a good experience for us all through this testing period," noted the former America's Cup sailor.
There are several new teams making their debut in the 2009 Championship Tour.
