Dubai company director Toby O’Connell is aiming to follow up a major international sailing success with another victory in this weekend’s Jumeirah Regatta.
O’Connell, skipper of the 50-foot yacht Yo!, goes into the two day-event at Jumeirah Beach Hotel Events Arena on Friday and Saturday fresh from his triumph in last month’s
Phuket King's Cup Regatta in Thailand.
He won Asia's biggest and most popular regatta at the first attempt at the helm of Dhevatara Drumstick, a yacht he chartered for the week-long event.
Now O’Connell is aiming for the cruiser title in the Jumeirah Regatta, which is sponsored by Dubai’s dynamic and fast growing luxury hospitality group, although he expects a difficult test at the helm of the biggest boat in the fleet.
“We’re taking it very seriously and hope to do well, although there’s some tough opposition,” he said. “Our crew is vastly improved and we can handle the short courses much better now. We’re much slicker at getting the spinnaker up and down.
“What could kill us is if we have to race in light winds at the start, and the winds pick up towards the end, meaning the smaller boats following us have stronger average winds.”
O’Connell’s 14-man crew for the Jumeirah Regatta will include two Australians who helped him capture the King’s Cup last month - Dubai-based Mark Feilberg and Jamie Wilmot, who will be flying in to the UAE following previous engagements in the US
After a week-long race series in Phuket, O’Connell snatched the prestigious King’s Cup from international windsurfing and sailboarding designer, Neil Pryde. They had finished level on points, but O’Connell won by virtue of having scored more race wins.
The regatta was inaugurated in 1987 to celebrate the 60th birthday of His Majesty the King of Thailand, and it now enjoys the kind of status that the Jumeirah Regatta is aimed at achieving in the years ahead.
“The event is getting bigger and better every year,” said Gerald Lawless, Chief Executive Officer for Jumeirah Group, and a keen member of Jebel Ali Sailing Club. “We plan to develop it into a very significant regatta which will attract growing support from the local and regional sailing community, as well as from overseas.”
Among the main threats to O’Connell’s Jumeirah Regatta victory hopes will be Kristian Tzanov and his crew aboard the 44.7ft yacht which landed last year’s Maktoum Sailing Trophy, the fleet racing series which returns next month.
But the cruiser class is just part of the weekend action, as many of the UAE’s brightest young sailing hopefuls battle for honours in round three of 2006-2007 National Sailing Championships. Dubai Offshore Sailing Club members currently lead four of the seven categories, with Alastair Tate topping the laser standard category, Oliver Grogono heading the Optimist overall standings, Alexander Slatter leading the optimist cadets, and Marcel Herrera the toppers.
