14 Aug. 2015 – The second edition of the Optimist and Laser Sailing Regattas will be held at the Lebanese Yacht Club (LYC) Club (Ô-Glacée) in Batroun on August 15, 2015.A total of 16 young regional sailors will compete against Lebanese sailors in this edition of the Lebanon Water Festival; respectively 7Egyptians from Alexandria Sailing Club and 16 Jordanians from Marina Club and Hamza Club. The event has created a growing following in Lebanon and we find more and more parents requesting information for sailing courses.
The sailors will depart from LYC at Ô-Glacée in Batroun and will sail a rectangular course especially designed for the event. The Lebanese Optimist team consists of 5 young sailors: Yann and Luka Karayakoupoglou, Anthony Feghaly, Teymour Armani andLeith Armani. The Laser team consists of Jad Antar, Wissam Youssef, Ramez Loutfi, John White (Ireland), BarbarosTuna (Turkey), Maya Karkour and Karma Armani. Both teams are trained by Jean-Louis Zabal.
“Such sporting events are great for the kids. The Lebanon Water Festival gives them an opportunity to compete against international teams and evaluate their skills. They have been training very hard for this race », says Jean-Louis Zabal.
The Optimist and Laser Sailing Regattas are organized in collaboration with the Lebanese Yacht Club for the second year. Last year the race was held at Halat Club. “Before, sailing was concentrated in A.T.C.L.. It is now expending to other areas of Lebanon, which will allow the Federation in the future to organize international championships”, explains Simon Khoury, Founder of the Lebanon Water Festival.
The sailing school in Batroun was created in 2014 after the Lebanon Water Festival lent sailing coach Jean-Louis Zabal 8 Optimist boats to teach children according to international standards and regulations. The objective was to make sailing accessible to the youth.Having Optimist boats is essential to ensure continuity in the sport because children cannot learn nor train on Laser boats as they are too big for them. Currently the Lebanese Yacht Club is now the only club that owns and rents Optimist boats.
“Our objective is to make this sport accessible to as many people as possible. Sailing is a family sport, and all it takes to do it is wind and a club that rents sailing boats. One of the advantages in Batroun is that it is a public beach therefore open to all”, explains Annette Khoury, co-founder of the Lebanon Water Festival.
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