Oman Sail kicks off the 2021 ILCA 6 Radial World Championship

Sailors are preparing for the action at 2021 ILCA 6 Radial World Championship © Oman Sail

Oman Sail will welcome ILCA Radial sailors from around the world this week for the 2021 ILCA 6 World Championship. Commencing on 29 November through to 6 December 2021 at the Barceló Mussanah Resort, racing will take place every day in a Men and Women fleet before medallists are decided. Both the men's and women's competitions will run concurrently with competitors enjoying a day of practice before the Championships officially start.

The event features several of the world's top ten female sailors in the class, including 2020 Olympians, world number two and 2018 World Champion, Emma Plasschaert of Belgium and world number four, Elena Vorobeva of Croatia. Agata Barwinska (6) of Poland, Maxime Jonker (8) of the Netherlands, Vasileia Karachaliou (9) from Greece, and Marie Barrue (10) from France will also be taking part.

The Men's race will include four of Oman's best ILCA 6 sailors who will all be looking for a strong showing on home waters. Abdulmalik Al Hinai, Almoutasim Al Farsi and Ali Al Sadi have impressed on the circuit over the past 12 months and earned their place at the World Championships.

Hamed Al Yahmadi, the event project manager at Oman Sail, said, "This is another great opportunity for Oman Sail to host the very best sailors from around the world. The fleet is incredibly strong and we are looking forward to an excellent week of sailing. Winter has been a very busy time for Oman Sail and Mussanah in particular with so many World and Asian Championships coming to our shores and we are delighted to once again show our ability as a world class host, formidable sailing nation and an emerging tourist destination."

Originally slated to be held in Houston, USA, the event faced cancellation until the Sultanate of Oman was selected as replacement hosts in July 2021 to ensure the championships could still take place and allow the top ranked female and male sailors from 36 nations an opportunity to compete to be the best in the world in their class.

The 2021 ILCA 6 World Championships is not the only sailing event taking place in Oman at this time. The second leg of Oman Sail's own Sailing Arabia - The Tour is currently in progress in Sur, where a six-team multi-national fleet is embroiled in a coastal raid and in-port race. The next stage will be in Marina Bandar Rowdha from 1-2 December 2021 then at Al Mouj Muscat from 3-5 December for the final leg, medal race and prize-giving ceremony.

The event is supported by national carrier Oman Air, OQ and the Barceló Mussanah Resort as official partners, and Be'ah as environmental supporter. The National Mineral Water Company Salsabeel Water provided all essential water supplies for the event while the Royal Navy of Oman provided medical support throughout.