Sunday, February 18, 2018 (Image © Lloyd Images)
Diam-24-Trimaran - Arabian Tour 2018 - Muscat OMN - Final results
As expected, the short races off Muscat did not alter the positions on top of the Arabian Tour rankings. 'Bejaflore' with Valentin Bellet/Julien Villion/Guillaume Piroulle/Valentin Sipan/Jason Saunders FRA/NZL finished first ahead of 'EFG Bank Monaco' with Thierry Douillard FRA (and a.o. Mathieu Richard FRA) on rank 2. The final report with ranking lists.
The coastal race yesterday was abandonded in the slackening wind. Here the 
After yesterday's lay day and the relocation to Muscat, the final of the 2018 Arabien Tour is on the program today. At 6.30h UTC. the start to the final coastal race will be given, and tomorrow, the last short races are on the program.
Three short races were on the program yesterday. Stevie Morrison GBR with his 'Arveda' was the winner of the day and as 3rd overall, he reduced the backlog on the 2nd-ranked 'EFG Bank Monaco' (Thierry Douillard FRA) to 2 points. 'Bejaflore' with Valentin Bellet FRA 10 points ahead is the premature overall winner of the Tour before the last stopover with a coastal race and three short races. Bernard Stamm SUI with his 'Cheminées Poujoulat' dropped on rank 6, but with a 2 points' deficit on rank 4 and one points on the 5th place, he can improve his ranking in the last races. 
Yesterday, the coastal race from Ras al Hadd to Sur was on the program, and 'Bejaflore' with Simon Bellet FRA as winner extended her lead in the overall rankings. 'Averda' with Stevie Morrison GBR finished 3rd, Bernard Stamm SUI, initially leading, followed on rank 3 and moved up on 4th overall. Today, short races will take place in Sur, to be followed 
Yesterday was a lay day at the Arabian Tour, and today, another coastal race is on the program, that can be followed 
After some waiting, the start was given to the short races in Massirah OMN yesterday. Best in the three heats completed was ‘Vivacar.fr’ with Mathieu Souben FRA moving up on rank 4 overall. 'Bejaflore' with Valentin Bellet FRA defended an 8 points' lead. 
Yesterday in Massirah - the largest island of Oman - a coastal race and two short races were on the program, and the winner in all three heats was 'EFG Bank Monaco' with Thierry Douillard FRA (and Mathieu Richard FRA). With these wins, she reduced the backlog on the leading 'Bejaflore' with Valentin Bellet FRA on 6 points. Bernard Stamm SUI ('Cheminées Poujoulat') had a good day and with a 3rd rank finish in the coastal race and a 5th place in the short races, he moved up on rank 5 overall. Elodie-Jane Mettraux SUI with her all-female team remained on rank 8.
Lay day at the Arabien-Tour yesterday, while the multihulls were transported to Massirah, a holiday resort island of Oman. Today, the start to another Coastal Race will be given, that can be followed over 
Yesterday, a 23nm Coastal Race was on the program off Duqm. Starting slowly with quite a delay, 'Bejaflore' with Valentin Bellet FRA came back strongly from behind and finished first at the end of the day. The experienced team - rank 3 in last year's Tour de France - seems to become the dominator of the Arabian Tour 2018. On rank 2 followed the 49er crack Stevie Morrison GBR, advancing on the 3rd place overall. Last year's winner 'EFG Bank Monaco' with Mathieu Richard FRA defended the 2nd rank. The all-female team of Elodie-Jane Mettraux SUI - a.o. with Sophie de Turckheim FRA - remained last overall. 
The Arabian Tour fleet arrived well on the road in Duqm OMN and sailed five Stadium InPort Races yesterday. ‘EFG Bank’ of Thierry Douillard FRA as best of the day finished on the podium in every heat, followed by the overall leader 'Bejaflore' of Valentin Bellet FRA. The all-fremale 'DB Schenker' team of Élodie Jane Mettraux SUI finished 8th of the day. ‘Berjiflor’ clearly stays on top of the overall rankings 5 points in front of ‘EFG Bank’.
After the short races and the coastal race off Salalah on the opening day of the Arabian Tour, the fleet was dislocated by road-transport to Duqm, 600 miles North, where more short races will be held today. After the first day, 'Bejaflore' with Valentin Bellet FRA is the dominating leader. The all-female 'DB Schenker' team with Elodie Jane Mettraux SUI follows as 8th. 
Last Sunday, the 2018 Arabian Tour began in Salalah OMN, for the first time on Diam-24-trimarans with a similar format as the Tour-de-France. 4 short races were held off Muscat, and yesterday, a 70nm coastal race was on the program, won by 'Bejaflore' with Valentin Bellet FRA, at the same time overall leader. Elodie-Jane Mettraux SUI skipper of the all-female 'DB Schenker' team follows on rank 7.
