Unveiling‌
New…
Horizons‌
A new standard of racing yacht for the developing arena of Arabia, Asia and The Indian Ocean
Tradition, adventure, technology: sailing’s exceptional assets Powered by the wind and respectful of the sea, sailing vessels have
retained their original purity of concept throughout the centuries.
rom early simple rafts to majestic dhows and record-breaking clippers, the evolution of sailing has shaped the world as we know it, allowing for the greatest discoveries and for trade between remote continents. Today, the tradition lives on in the international sporting arena, where sailing stands for adventure, cutting edge technology and the highest level of competitive sporting achievements. A sport built on strong environmental values - powered only by the wind - sailing is deep-rooted in history yet has evolved to adopt the most advanced technological breakthroughs. Competitive sailing offers a wide variety of events, benefits from a fantastic image and appeals to a very large audience.
The Arabian 100 (A100) is the perfect incarnation of modern sailing for the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and east to Asia. A flagship for a new era, an era where the Atlantic Ocean that separates America from the old world of Europe, is no longer the centre of attention for international sailing competition. Instead the warm waters of the Gulf, the immense ocean playground of the Indian Ocean and the challenging eastern seas of Asia, which saw the beginning of sailing, are the new arena for the sport. The A100 - a flagship for progress, power and the future of sailing.
Multihulls, on top of the competitive sailing game Ocean-racing multihulls are today the most technologically advanced, fastest and most visually stunning sailing vessels on the planet. Although they have been around for some 4,000 years, multihulls only recently became a paragon of sheer performance under sail, as modern building techniques allowed them to unleash their impressive natural potential. They are today regarded as the ultimate racers on the international scene and hold the most prestigious records.
Above: Pacific islands traditional multihull, as pictured by John artist aboard one of James expedition vessels
Webber,
Cook’s
The A100 in detail More than a boat, a class of its own!
Creating a level playing field with a One Design class, in which all boats are built to the same set of specifications, has numerous advantages. > It ensures close racing where the sailors’ talent and skills make the difference.
> It allows the public to have a quick understanding of the game,
Why this Design? > A design tested and proven in the most hostile oceans, whose sister ships hold the solo Round the World and 24-hour records.
> A cutting-edge racer whose balanced power-to-weight ratio also provides a fantastic learning platform on which to train
first across the line wins, which is not the case in handicapped
new crews: unlike other exclusive machines, the A100 offers
fleet racing involving various types of boats.
world-class performance whilst being utilised to develop
> I t allows the quick development of a regional competitive fleet, with almost immediate visibility on the international
tomorrow’s sailing elite.
> A versatile multihull, capable of performing on short inshore
scene, thus promoting the region as a high-level sailing
courses as well as ocean marathons. The perfect tool with
destination for event organisers and enthusiasts.
which to shape a new international circuit.
> It helps control the budgets as teams compete aboard identical
> A stunning communication platform - being part of a very
boats, which means that a costly arms race (teams building
small family of the longest sailing multihulls ever built, the
bigger and faster boats every 6 months to stay on top of the
A100 naturally stands out as one of just 10 trimarans of 100ft
game) is ruled out.
or more in the world!
One of the Ten
BIGGEST TRIMARANS in the world
The A100 in figures
Olympic Diving Board
The A100
The Sydney Opera House
The highest diving platform used in
Has a mast height of 32.5m (107ft)
Measures 67m from top to bottom
the
Olympic Games measures 10m Maximum sail area (approx): 550 square metres - 5,920 square feet The equivalent of 2 tennis courts
The A100’s near-sister ships have already established historic performances at the highest level, setting multiple new world records. track record IDEC, Francis Joyon: • Fastest solo circumnavigation in 57 days, 13 hours, 34 minutes and 06 seconds.
Sodeb’O, Thomas Coville: • North Atlantic solo record (New York, USA - Lizard Point, UK): 5 days, 19 hours, 29 minutes and 20 seconds. • Greatest distance covered singlehanded over 24 hours - 628.5 nautical miles, (1,164 km).
Arabia, Asia... and beyond
A new sporting arena from the cradle of civilisation The first of this new A100 class, under the colours of Oman Sail, will trace out new routes developing a new circuit of races for the future A100 fleet
he world’s first civilisations developed on its shores, and with the Sumerians, the Indian Ocean saw the dawn of sailing. Feared by ancient explorers and modern-day racers alike, it holds a place apart in maritime mythology.
> Current traditional courses only exploit the southern part of that ocean and above 40° South it remains the most uncharted territory as far as professional racing is concerned, yet it offers a wide variety of tactical challenges and thrilling conditions. The traditional trade routes provide valuable historical background making the legitimacy of an Indian circuit unquestionable, from Oman in the south to Kuwait in the north.
> Around the Arabian peninsula a variety of suitable venues create the perfect opportunity to stage a series of inshore races and to set up a “Tour” visiting GCC countries - with races held from one port to the other along the route, each race being a scoring leg.
Inshore, Offshore and
around the world
Given its versatility, the A100 can be raced on a variety of courses. > Coastal races which could take place during the stopovers of the“Tour of Arabia”. > S emi-offshore legs sailing from port to port forming the “Tour of Arabia”.
> Indian Ocean racing: the big dive south for a giant tour of Indian Ocean Capes facing the combined challenges that the Southern and Indian Oceans have to offer from tropical conditions and Doldrums of the Equator to the towering waves of the Roaring Forties. > Around the world: the pinnacle of offshore racing! The A100 has been designed with the ability of circumnavigations in mind, and no other form of sailing races capture the general public’s imagination like a journey around the planet.
MUSCAT CAPE RAS AL HADD
CAPE COMORIN
SINGAPORE CAPE PIAI MALDIVES
I
n d i a n
Oc
e a n
CAPE TOWN CAPE AGULHAS
PE RTH CAPE LEEUWIN
Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race Total distance: 15,000 nautical miles (27,780 kilometres) Duration: 35 to 40 days From tropical conditions to the freezing and extremely threatening Southern Ocean! The Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race will pass the Capes of Ras Al Hadd (Oman), down to Cape of Good Hope (South Africa), across the frozen wastes of the Southern Ocean to Cape Leeuwin (SW Australia), past Cape Piai the southernmost point of mainland Asia just to the west of Singapore, and back underneath Cape Comorin (southern tip of India), to Oman on the Arabian Peninsula.
Arabia, Asia... and beyond
KUWAIT CITY
Tour
of
Arabia
Total distance: 1,700 nautical miles (3,150 kilometres) MANAMA, BAHRAIN
Duration including stopovers: 30 days
DOHA, QATAR
In its inaugural year, the Tour of Arabia will visit the
DUBAI, UAE ABU DHABI, UAE
MUSCAT, OMAN
neighbouring Gulf countries starting from Kuwait to Bahrain, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, in United Arab Emirates; finishing in Muscat, Oman. A reference time will be established on each of the ‘legs’.
MUSANDAM
Round Oman
SOHAR
MUSCAT SUR
Total distance: 835 nautical miles (1,546.42 kilometres) Duration: 6 to 8 days The challenging coastal course ‘Round Oman’ is similar to that of the most emblematic “classic” offshore races of the international circuit such as the Fastnet Race or the
SALALAH
Sydney-Hobart and could, as such, become their Mid-Eastern counterpart.
DALIAN
Routes already conquered and to be challenged in the future . . .
QINGDAO YOKOHAMA
Asia Circuit
SHANGHAI JEJU ISLAND
Format options: Yokohama to Singapore via Asian stopovers
TAIPEI HONG KONG
SANYA
Yokohoma to Singapore distance: 6,800 miles (10,943 kilometres) Dame Ellen MacArthur established this circuit in 2006.
NHA TRANG
TUMPAT TERENGGANU SINGAPORE
Round The World MUSCAT
non-stop
Total distance: 21,000 nautical miles (39,000 kilometres) Reference time: 76 days, 1 hour, 12 minutes, 42
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE
CAPE LEEUWIN
seconds COOK STRAIT
The reference time was set by Oman Sail’s Musandam 75ft trimaran, March 25, 2009. The journey allowed
CAPE HORN
Mohsin Al Busaidi to become the first Arab sailor to circumnavigate the planet non-stop.
Creating a sensation in the The gulf region has already welcomed high-profile sailing events to its shores. It offers fantastic opportunities in terms of wind and sea conditions, infrastructure and tradition. The first Extreme Sailing Series Asia will visit Hong Kong, Singapore and Oman in winter 2009/10, following on from the successful events in Dubai and Muscat in 2008.
Arabian Gulf
Combining offshore A100 events with exciting “in-port” action and entertainment
Dhow regatta
Extreme sailing
Paying tribute to tradition
Maximising the impact
Part of the magic of sailing lies in its ancestral character,
Spectacular and capable of bringing the action directly to the
and if the technology has evolved considerably during the
public, the Extreme 40 catamaran is the perfect complement
past century, traditional boats and modern racers are still
to the A100. The high-octane 40 foot speed machine races
quintessentially very similar.
on very short courses, delivering action-packed regattas and
Paying tribute to local history by organising, within each A100 event, a dhow regatta is a logical move that can only bring added value and attract a wider audience.
providing the opportunity for VIPs to race as a “fifth” man onboard. Holding showcase events at stopovers during the “Tour of Arabia” involving A100 boats is a great way of bringing the sport of sailing to the public’s attention.
About the
Arabian 100
> More than 49,500 hours of work to build and assemble > Potential to sail around the world powered by the wind alone in less than 60 days > One of the 10 biggest sailing multihulls ever built
The Designers British naval architect Nigel Irens is an iconic figure in the world of multihulls, having designed the most emblematic racers of the last quarter of a century. His boats have won all of the major international multihull events (Route du Rhum, The Artemis Transat, outright round the world record, singlehanded round the world record…), and Nigel was the first designer to launch a carbon racing catamaran exceeding 75 feet in length - nearly 30 years ago! French structure specialist Benoît Cabaret joined forces with Irens in the late 1990s, bringing his expertise in the fields of computer-generated imagery, calculation and modelisation.
The Builders Established in 1986 near Sydney, Australia, Boatspeed has excelled in the building of high technology, high performance racing sailboats. The yard has become famous for having launched Ellen MacArthur’s record-breaking trimaran and many successful ocean racers currently active in the Pacific. Once the components are completed, the 4 month assembly and fitting out work can be done locally, as with the first boat - assembled in Salalah, Oman.
Designed with computers… yet still requiring expert human eyes and hands. The A100 is a unique blend of high-technology and traditional know-how
The Technical Team A team of experts from the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team, part of OC Group, supervises the build, the assembly and the initial test period for the A100, relying on an incomparable experience gained during world-level winning campaigns, such as Ellen MacArthur’s singlehanded round the world record or Vendée Globe. www.ocgroup.com
The Event Organisers OC Events, part of OC Group, began with The Transat in 2004, the oldest transatlantic solo race in history, first won by Sir Francis Chichester in 1960. In 2005 OC Events launched a new concept in offshore racing — the Barcelona World Race. This double-handed, non-stop, round the world race started on 11 November 2007 and saw nine IMOCA 60s battle their way around the planet. OC Events also established a circuit encompassing the Far East, when Ellen MacArthur completed the inaugural Asian Record Circuit onboard her recordbreaking trimaran, establishing eight new records via eight countries. The company is also responsible for organising the award-winning Extreme Sailing Series in Europe and Asia. www.ocevents.org
The First Owners The first Arabian 100 trimaran is owned by Oman Sail, who in March 2009 set a first reference time around the world starting and finishing in the Gulf of Oman. Crew member, Mohsin Al Busaidi became the first ever Arab to circumnavigate the planet non-stop, creating a role model for young Omanis. This was achieved aboard the Musandam trimaran, Dame Ellen MacArthur’s former world record holder B&Q, whose brilliant designers also conceived the A100. The new racer will take the Oman Sail Race Team to a new level and create the conditions for the emergence of a new generation of Omani professional sailors and professional ocean racing in the region. www.omansail.com
Assembled Locally
The A100 is a complex high tech machine made of the most advanced materials available on the market today.
> M ajor elements (central hull, floats and crossbeams) built by Boatspeed, Australia. > B oat #1, assembled in Salalah, Oman. > T he assembly facility promotes apprenticeship and encourages the sharing of technical knowledge, while at the same time showcasing the region’s forward thinking and opportunities.
Attention to detail combined with high tech materials
Often derived from aeronautics, the technology involved in high-performance multihull building allows for light yet strong structures, thanks to the use of carbon fibre, lightweight metals such as titanium, and computer-assisted engineering. To weather the Southern Ocean’s fiercest storms, the A100’s structure combines lightness with speed and strength by relying on a honeycomb core (weighing only 2 kilos per square metre) trapped between two carbon fibre skins, - giving the configuration its nickname of “sandwich”.
Each element of the trimaran is built separately, the assembly phase being the second major part of the process. The central hull, floats and crossbeams are made separately in moulds using carbon fibre preimpregnated with resin.
The “puzzle� then comes together when all the elements are carefully placed, and alignments are laser-checked. Deck hardware is then fitted onto the platform.
On a weight-to-weight basis, some synthetic fibres on the boat are 15 times stronger than steel.
info@a100class.com
www.a100class.com