Air Arabia announces sponsorship of Bahrain Match Racing Sailing Team

Top world class sailing teams are expected to attend the two sailing events - "The Qualifier-Mumbai International Match Race 2009" and "The 2009 Mumbai International Match Race Championship."

"Bahrain Team Air Arabia" is touted as the favourites to take the first Arab prize and is in top contention to be placed among the best three in Asia. For the last eight years, Bahrain Sailing Team has been led by team coach Kacem Ben Jemia and team captain Sami Al Kooheji, who is also a First Officer with Air Arabia.

The team, which has competed in the 2004 Olympic Games; 2006 Asian Games and won gold medals in the Pan Arab Games, is considered to among the best in the Middle East and North Africa.

Nooman Rashid Al-Hassan, General Secretary of the Bahrain Maritime Sports Association, said:

"We have been experiencing a defining moment of change in the sport of sailing in Bahrain. The new support that the Bahraini sailors are receiving from Air Arabia is a major milestone to the ongoing success of our team. We are extremely thankful to the Bahraini Government, Government of Youth and Sports and Air Arabia for their support towards the Bahrain Sailing Team."

Adel Ali, Board Member and Chief Executive Officer of Air Arabia, said: "We are very pleased to sponsor 'Bahrain Team Air Arabia', an extremely skilled and talented team that have been preparing rigorously for these very prestigious regattas. We are confident that the team will bring the coveted trophies to the region and we wish them all the very best."

Bahrain Team Air Arabia will be skippered by Ebrahim Abdullah and team members Abderahim Abdullah, Ahmed Abdel Aziz, and Khaled Al Seddiqi. Air Arabia's main objective is to continue supporting young and up-coming athletes from the region. In 2007, the company launched its title sponsorship of The Air Arabia World Endurance Sailing Challenge, a 550-kilometre solo voyage from Bahrain to Dubai. This initiative helped one of the company's pilots to achieve a new world record in Laser Endurance Sailing.

Match racing is a special form of sailing racing. The sport has its own set of rules, which are slightly different from the regular sail racing rules that create very close, aggressive competition in which collisions are certainly not rare. It is tremendously exciting to participate in these races and is thrilling to watch. Before the start, the boats vie for control, circling each other and trying to wipe each other off and on spectator boats in an elaborate game of cat and mouse.