Saturday 17 / January / 2026
Muscat: Forty-four sailors from Oman Sail’s Performance Team have completed a 14-day Winter training camp at Mussanah Sailing School ahead of the 2026 Winter Cup. Drawn from Oman Sail’s sailing schools at Al Mouj Muscat, Sur and Mussanah, the sailors represent Optimist, ILCA 4, ILCA 6, ILCA 7 and 29er classes, as well as one sailor in each of the iQFOiL and KiteFoil national teams.
Led by five coaches from Oman Sail, the, the sailors learned valuable technical and tactical skills during the two-week camp while also putting the theory into practice on the water as they gain valuable experience before competition begins.
As well as on-water sessions, the teams completed physical and mental conditioning to cope with the demands of higher levels of racing.
Hashim Al Rashdi, Oman Sail’s Head Performance Coach, said, “The Winter Training Camp and 2026 Winter Cup are important steps along the journey to becoming a high-class sailor. We have seen recently the determination of our team in the Star Sailors League and that is the level we are capable of reaching. Representing the nation internationally is a huge honour and one that our teams aspire towards.
The next step after the Winter Cup is the Arab Sailing Championships in Egypt, and each event builds on the experience of the previous until we reach our goal.”
The sailors will continue their development during the four-day 2026 Winter Cup from 18-22 January 2026 at the Mussanah Sailing School as 64 sailors compete across all classes. Taking part in the Winter Cup will be Ibtisam Al Salmi, member of the victorious SSL Team Oman, and Al Moatsem Al Farsi, ILCA 6 gold medalist at Mussanah Race Week, and Hussain Al Jabi, ILCA 7 gold medalist at Mussanah Race Week – both members of the national ILCA team.
The highest performing sailors at the end of the Winter Cup will earn national team selection for upcoming events, starting with the Arab Sailing Championships 2026 which runs from 28 January until 2 February in Soma Bay, Egypt.
Oman will be represented in Optimist and ILCA classes, as well as KiteFoil and iQFOiL Windsurfing events.
At the same time, Oman Sail’s 49er team will head to Vilamoura, Portugal, for a training camp ahead of the Vilamoura Championship at the end of February, while the Optimist team prepares for the Inter-School Regatta.
