After grueling 15 days of navigating a 1,408-kilometer course, with stops in seven ports, the “Sailing Arabia - the Tour” 2012 boat race decisively came to a close Monday when the nine competing teams reached their final destination in Muscat Monday, where the French team Courrier Dunkerque were crowned the champion. Team Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had a one-point lead over Team Bahrain in sixth. Seventh place going into Monday's race and after rounding the mark in second place, Team Saudi Arabia held its position, securing third place on the leg, its best result of the tour, and enough to finish sixth overall. Robin Elsey, the young British skipper of Team Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said: “It was a relatively short leg, but everything just worked on board and we sailed like a rocket ship! It has been great sailing with the Saudi guys and we have really started working better as a team, hopefully it is the beginning of something for the future.” The teams were welcomed to The Wave, Muscat, for the official prize giving. The nine teams, which between them represent six nations, have visited four countries on the tour, starting in Bahrain on Feb. 13 before heading to Qatar, the UAE and Oman. The battle for second between Team BAE Systems and Team Commercialbank was tense, with the latter just one point ahead of Team BAE Systems. Bertrand Pace's match-racing pedigree on Team Commercialbank was evident, marking Team BAE Systems the whole way and ultimately maintaining the upper hand, finishing in fifth — enough for the Qatari-flagged team to claim the second place overall. The all-women's team — Al Thuraya BankMuscat — and Team Renaissance were in a similar battle for fourth and fifth. Despite an impressive second place finish Monday, the all Omani-crewed Team Muscat 2012 finished in eighth place overall, while Team Ras Al Khaimah, the only team representing the UAE, brought up the tail end of the fleet in ninth place. In its second edition, Sailing Arabia - the Tour has seen a 50 percent increase in the number of teams competing, and a significant growth in the number of teams from the GCC, with five of the six GCC nations represented.
