Monday 23 / February / 2026
Muscat: Oman Sail’s high-performance 49er team has completed the second of its two training camps in Vilamoura, Portugal, ahead of the 8th Portugal Grand Prix, the Vilamoura Championship, which begins on 25 February. Representing the nation in the 49er competition will be Waleed Al Kindi and Ahmed Al Hasani, as part of an event which brings together many of the world’s best sailors for racing in 49er, 49erFX, ILCA 6, ILCA 7, and 470 – sailing’s Olympic classes.
The team will be led by specialist coach Jacek Nowak, who has already supported the pair through two pre-event training camps in Vilamoura and will guide the sailors through each day of racing.
Hashim Al Rashdi, Oman Sail’s Head of Performance, said, “The Portugal Grand Prix is an important fixture on the Olympic Sailing Calendar and provides another opportunity to improve, learn from others and fine tune our performance ahead of Olympic qualifiers. The level of competition is very high and will be a guide for where we must improve upon in the coming months. Our goal remains to represent the nation in sailing at the Olympic Games and to win a medal, and to do that we must test ourselves at the highest levels.”
49er team coach Jacek Nowak added, “Vilamoura offers a new challenge with open-sea racing and high ranked competitors. The two training camps we held here in Portugal, first at the beginning of January and then at the start of February, gave us insight into the conditions and how to manage the races, so we are hopeful of a strong performance in this championship.”
The competition is held at Marina de Vilamoura, site of the recent 2025 Youth Sailing World Championships and a year-round training base for many elite teams across all disciplines. Racing begins on 25 February with four days of competition scheduled.
