| The National

ABU DHABI // The seventh and final round of the UAE National Sailing Championship will be one of the highlights of the sixth staging of the Al Gharbia Watersports Festival until May 3.

Conspicuous in his absence in the final round of the championship series will be Adil Khalid, the Emirati sailor who is in Portugal with the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Team preparing for the 2014/2015 Volvo Ocean Race.

The 10-day has drawn up a series of action-packed events in the water, including kite-surfing as well as both modern and traditional boat races, vying for a slice of the Dh4.5 million in prizes on offer.

“The highlight of the festival during the day is in the water where the participation where we have participation of more than 1,500 in each event,” said Obaid Al Mazrouei, the head of the organising committee of the Al Gharbai Watersports Festival.

“The evenings are filled with cultural and musical shows, arts and crafts, and for the more active person, five-a-side football and volleyball. There are lots of prizes to be won for both the participants and visitors from the competitions as well as from the daily free raffle draws.”

The sailing races incudes the traditional sails boats over three categories: 22ft, 43ft, and 60ft, over distances of 15km.

The traditional rowing, kayaks, canoes, dragon boats, windsurfing, ski-surfing and kite-surfing will be spread across the 10 days.

The regatta consists of the five different categories: laser, optimist, catamaran, kitesurf, and open dinghy.

“The modern sail boats races are the most popular with both Emirati and expatriate participation. It has drawn the best sailors from around the country,” Al Mazrouei said.

“Of the traditional boats, the 60-footers are operated by 20 to 25 sailors and raced over 30km. We expect more than 60 boats to take part in this race will be one of the feature events.

“We have seen the growth of this event over the past five years and expect the competitions to be more competitive and the side events to be more fun-filled and attractive to the visitors. We expect in excess of 80,000 visitors this year.”

Abdullah Al Qubaisi, the director of communications of the Department of Cultural Programme and Heritage Festival Committee, believes the event has provided an economic boost to the region.

“The festival has achieved the important goal and objectives in promoting the region as a tourist destination through watersports,” he said.

UAE National Sailing Championship will be one of the highlights of the sixth staging.