The Arabian Gulf is known as one of the international sailing industry, leisure and competitions pioneers and the main mission of "EFG Sailing Arabia - The Tour" is that of reviving the sailing industry in the region.
This highly coveted international competition started today, 15 of February 2016, in Dubai and will finish on 28 of February 2016 in Muscat.
2016 is the second year when Averda’s team takes part in the sailing race and this is also the year when Averda hopes to win the race, as also predicted by the sailing experts. With a team made up of 6 enthusiastic and young sailors with an average age of 25, Averda hopes the material support and encouragement it has provided to the team will contribute to them winning the 2016 “EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour” title.
Given that “EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour” is an event organised under the high patronage of Omani officials, Averda has chosen to raise the Omani flag on its yacht, as a tribute to Oman and its commitment to reviving the Arabian sailing industry.
Averda’s sailing team members - Andrew Hamish Baker (26), Rob Bunce (21), Richard Mason (27), James Dodd (20), Marcel Herrera (23) and Robert Gullan (30) - do not only hope to write history during this year’s tour but, also, to raise awareness of the importance of sailing and the spirit of human endurance.
All six sailors are active volunteers in a variety of environmental awareness programmes, such as “Surfers Against Sewage”, and different special needs awareness raising programmes, providing various international and regional talks on the importance of sailing. They all believe that the nature of the sport itself is extremely challenging and rewarding, thus providing them with useful life skills.
Four of Averda’s team members have previously competed in Olympic races, having the required experience and mind set of professional athletes and thus making their involvement in “EFG Sailing Arabia - The Tour” highly rewarding. Given that each participating team sails an identical Farr 30 yacht, the winning team will only have its training, teamwork, technical skill and absolute professionalism as determinants for the race result.
Mr. Mazen Chebaklo, Averda’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We strongly believe that the spirit of teamwork, endurance, resilience against nature’s adversity and desire to succeed, so prevalent in a sailing race, are very similar to Averda’s own success story across Middle East. We hope Averda’s role in supporting such a worthy cause would have a significant contribution to reviving the Arabian Gulf’s sailing industry and that many more sailing enthusiasts and supporters will join the race for the years to come”
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