Eden Yachting key sponsor for Sailing Arabia - The Tour 2012

Nine Farr 30 yachts, including four from Oman and one each from Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabi, the UAE, and France will start the 15 day, 1408 km race from the Amwaj Marina in Bahrain, sailing all the way to The Wave, Muscat, with stopping points in Doha, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Zighy Bay and Mussanah.

Philippe Saad, Founder and Managing Director of Eden Yachting, commented, "We are excited to be involved with Sailing Arabia - The Tour 2012 for the second year running. It is an excellent initiative by Oman Sail, uniting a regional maritime heritage with a cutting edge offshore race. We are providing two motor yachts to support the event, an Aicon 72 and an Aicon 56, which will accompany the sailing yachts from port to port."

Besides promoting sailing, Sailing Arabia - The Tour also allows local businesses to engage in sponsorship and other commercial opportunities related to yacht racing, attracting international high profile events to increasingly consider the Gulf as an attractive winter venue.

Saad continued, "Sailing has been very much in the news recently with the Volvo Ocean Race Stopover in Abu Dhabi bringing a huge international event to the public's attention, but the beauty of Sailing Arabia - The Tour, is that we, in the region, can feel some ownership. It is our race and I believe it has a great future."