The Amazing New Arabian 100 Trimaran
by Blackwattle Studios on 12 Sep 2009
Arabia 100 being lowered into the yacht harbour at Salalah SW
Collecting all the parts to make Oman Sail's new Arabian 100 come together was like convening an international summit, and is a long way from most leisure sailors' experience.
The three hulls and connecting beams were made in Australia and shipped on deck to Salalah via India, the spars came from Auckland, New Zealand, the Harken deck gear and winches came from Italy and the North Sails came from France.
But finally, she's out there sailing!
Salalah, that busy commercial port and host to Navies of many nations in the Coalition Force that patrols the Gulf of Aden, saw a very unusual sight at the end of August when the Arabian 100 trimaran touched water for the very first time.
She has been under construction since 2008, and since the arrival of her various parts, a team of up to 30 international and Omani boat builders and specialists have worked on her at any one time and the result is this phenomenal trimaran.
A new flagship for Arabia, this new 105 foot trimaran, known as an Arabian 100 (A100), will join the Oman Sail fleet as a training boat to help further the ambitious development of the Oman Sail academy and inspire the Omani youth to further their potential to be great sailors.
It will be skippered by Paul Standbridge and will now undergo sea- trials before its first voyage up the Omani coast to the captial Muscat, after Ramadan, for its naming ceremony.
Originally designed by Nigel Irens and Benoit Cabaret, the Arabian 100 is a close sister ship to the very successful and very famous 'Sodeb'O' skippered by Thomas Coville. Sodeb'o has set many records around the world and her design was a perfect platform on which to develop a new class of racing trimarans that also offer perfect training platforms.
[Sorry, this content could not be displayed]The huge trimaran will be used by Oman Sail to further the profile of Oman internationally whilst training a new generation of young Omanis.
Without the rotating mast of Sodeb'O and the simplifying of some of the processes, the new trimaran will easily accommodate a large crew of trainers and trainees on short or long distance challenges. The Arabian 100 will be part of the programme which will involve long distance races as well as being an international ambassador of Oman.
An Omani crew who will be trained to sail the Arabian 100 but there will also be a strong Omani contingency in the background doing the boatbuilding, maintenance, systems, rigging and sailmaking. A cornerstone of Oman Sail's charter is the development of young Omanis in the larger scheme of reigniting Oman's maritime heritage. The Oman Sail Academy is in the second phase of recruitment for young Omani men and women, may of whom will be part of the Arabian 100 crew when she starts her schedule of events.
In March this year Oman welcomed back Mohsin Al Busaidi as the first Arab to circumnavigate the world non-stop. He achieved this feat on another of Oman Sail's racing trimarans, Musandam.
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