Dubai: A team of students from International Maritime College Oman (IMCO) are readying themselves to take on the world’s sailing elite at Sail Arabia The Tour (SATT) later this month.
Headed by skipper Mathijs Steven, nine of the team are students from the college, many of whom have had no prior racing experience. But they are raring to go ahead of the first leg of the race from Muscat on Sunday.
“For most members of the IMCO team it will be their very first race. They have been put through a rigorous training programme and have made great progress and are happy to be underdogs,” Steven said.
“SATT 2015 will be a steep learning curve for the students. Some of them have already gone through a dip in confidence as the reality of what they are about to do, and who they are competing with, starts to sink in. But they have pushed through that and can’t wait to get started. The energy is fantastic.”
With 25 years’ experience in sailing, Steven said he is aware he will be the figurehead of the team and that he will need to draw on all of his years at sea to guide the young team through the challenge of one of the world’s toughest sailing events.
“For me, it is important that each step from trim, tactics and boat handling is identified. However, if there is one thing I have learned from racing, it is that plans tend to fall apart during the race, so I have to remain flexible and alert. The team has also shown great ability, grit, determination, and character,” he said.
Among the students taking part are four Omanis, aged between 21 and 24 years. The youngest student on the team will be Indian first year student Jaya Krishnan, who is training to be deck officer. Also on board will be 25-year-old marine engineering students Azamat Nazkeyev and Nauryzbek Bekpembetov, both from Kazakhstan.
Like most of the team, the Kazakh pair remain modest and describe themselves as having no particular skills. But, according to their skipper, the one thing that set them apart was their ability to focus.
More than 100 students tried out for the SATT team and were initially briefed by Mohsin Al Busaidi, the first modern Arab to sail non-stop around the world in 2009. Following which, the group was whittled down to 30, and then 16, before a final team of nine was finalised.
SATT is an annual event and is contested by teams racing identical Farr 30 yachts along a course stretching crewmembers to their limits, and testing teamwork and versatility. From The Wave in Muscat, teams will then travel to Sohar and around the Musandam Peninsula to UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.
