Family photo of participants in the 33 Aramex Dubai to Muscat Race at the DOSC

A record fleet of 33 ships of eight nationalities left Dubai for the capital of Oman, a 360-mile nautical route drawing the most important ocean race in the Middle East: the Aramex Dubai to Muscat Race. The stable 10 kt west component breeze was waiting in front of the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club (DOSC) to the heterogeneous fleet of this 33 edition, made up of 33 ships with length between the 9.5 meters of the Farr 30 and the 17 meters of the Beneteau First 53.

The French Heaven Can Wait, a Beneteau First 53 patrolling by Julien Monie and Darren Sheppard, took the lead in the first miles of the tour. He was closely followed by Landmark 43 Ivana and Aleks by Chavdar Aleksandrov and Lyuben Todorov representing the United Arab Emirates, currently third in the general classification of IRC. In third position was the Khaleesi of Jan Felton, the Dragonfly 40C that leads the classification of UAE multicascos.

Held for the first time in 1992, the D2M has brought together 33 ships of eight nationalities, including ships from France, the United Kingdom, Poland and Australia in front of the largest of the Middle East fleet for its 33 edition.

"The Dubai-Muscat has long been celebrating and connecting two countries, through some of the Emirates - Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah - so it is a very emblematic race", Sheikh Ahmed continued. "Someday I plan to participate myself in the race. It's my retirement plan."He said in laughter.

2026-01-29 A large fleet in the 360-mile Dubai-Massage... to beat the record of Devil

The Aramex D2M 2026 is organized by the United Arab Emirates Sailing & Rowing Federation and the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club, in partnership with the Oman Maritime Sports Committee

After tomorrow, Saturday, January 31, a record fleet will cross the line of departure at the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club, to challenge the three-year edition of the Aramex Dubai to Muscat Offshore Sailing Race, considered the most important and demanding race in the Middle East. Along its 360 nautical miles, the race will link the United Arab Emirates and Oman through the shallow and tactically complex waters of the Arabian Gulf, crossing the bottle neck of the Strait of Ormuz and then entering the Gulf of Oman.

The list of entries of this 33 edition reflects the growing diversity of the nautical landscape of the Gulf. From advanced full-crew IRC monocascos, A Two teams and the ever-present multicasque class, the D2M offers a challenge for all types of offshore competitors. The trial record was set by Diablo in the 2014 edition in 1 day, 19 hours, 52 minutes and 41 seconds.

www.dubaitomuscatrace.com