Regatta sailing in Abu Dhabi

We brave the seas for an afternoon of sailing in Doha Discuss this article

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George Costanza’s words from the TV sitcom Seinfeld couldn’t be more appropriate. ‘The sea was angry that day my friends’. Trees whip back and forth with rampant fury, an eye-stinging wall of dust and sand hazes over the horizon and the, usually peaceful, West Bay is marred by formidable sloshing waves. I’m signed up for a morning sailing session at the Regatta Sailing Academy, where I was planning on testing out the usually idyllic sailing conditions off Doha’s West Bay.

I have some sailing experience, though my nautical knowhow hardly puts me in the same category as hardy sailors like academy co-owner Mike Lawton, whose gravelly voice on the phone seems unfazed at my timid enquiries about ‘white caps on the water’. ‘It’s a shamal, a dry north-westerly wind blowing in from over the desert,’ he says gruffly. Sounding altogether unconcerned with the buffeting awaiting me, Mike tells me the wind was already 20-25 knots (five to 12 knots is the easiest to sail in), and would get worse over the next 24 hours before easing off. It was now or never.

Before we challenge the seas, I’m given a quick theory session by sailing instructor Mark Russell, who talks about the basics of sailing, bandying around seafaring terms like ‘points of sail’ and explaining hazards like the boom – the long post at the base of the sail, which can swing sharply across the deck with menacing head-smacking potential. Sailors must duck their heads instinctively to avoid what Mark likes to call ‘a discussion with the boom’.

Before setting off on our vessel – a Dart 16 catamaran – with my cheerful Ukrainian co-sailor Gafurov Bekzod (aka Beks), we have a land drill pantomime to practise my tacking skills (maneuvering the sail around). Then we launch off shore. Our flapping mainsail catches the wind, sending us surging across the bay, the boat pitching and heaving. It’s a fearsome wind and we’re both wretchedly saturated, but undeterred. Soon, we’re reaching (sailing across the wind) back and forth across the bay. It’s all very exhilarating and, though lungfuls of sea water are inhaled rather than swallowed, it’s impossible not to enjoy the feeling of complete freedom, especially with the occasional ‘whooping’ sound coming from Beks.

But my sense of mortality returns when we are hit by a gust of wind, and our catamaran lurches upright. We are heeling – the tip of the mast almost touching the water – and for a few gut-churning seconds we come perilously close to somersaulting. Beks shouts at me to lean back because I am harnessed to the trapeze, a wire attached to the upper mast. Though it goes against every sane grain in my body to lean backwards over the edge of a boat, we have to do it to regain leverage and avoid flipping over like a pancake.

Straining against gravity, we use our combined body weight to coax our airborne hull back to the water, and I finally feel as though all my pizza guzzling in the weeks prior has come in handy.

Soon, we’re reaching with ease and the shamal has become our friend, not foe. When we finally return to shore, I am pitifully windswept and coughing up seawater – though the sense of accomplishment at harnessing this wayward force of nature was worth every bucketful.
The Regatta Sailing Academy offers boats for hire and RYA certified tuition courses for individuals or groups. Learn to sail courses are for children, teens and adults, with a range of equipment to suit all levels. For information visit www.regattasailingacademy.com or call 550 7846 /664 1804.