Aramex Dubai to Muscat Offshore Sailing Race - Lead changes hands after Race to the Corner
by 42N Media 1 Feb 15:07 PST
From 31 January 2026
Majed Aki's Astartia sailing around the Strait of Hormuz in light breeze - 2026 Aramex Dubai to Muscat Offshore Sailing Race © Mikey Brignall / DOSC
The fleet of 33 boats has completed its first full day at sea in the Aramex Dubai to Muscat Offshore Sailing Race (D2M) - but with boat speeds dropping, patience is now as valuable as pace on the 360-nautical mile route.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, the frontrunners crossed the 'Race to the Corner' timing point on the edge of the Strait of Hormuz. This race within a race saw the early leaders maintain their positions from the opening day. Heaven Can Wait, the Beneteau First 53 skippered by Julien Monie and Darren Sheppard, was first across at 04:13:23 local time. Ivana and Aleks, the Landmark 43 helmed by Chavdar Aleksandrov and Lyuben Todorov, followed 22 minutes later, with Jan Felton's Dragonfly 40C Khaleesi claiming first multihull honours roughly an hour and a half behind the leader.
At the corner - the course's major turning point - the fleet hit its first real compression zone. With shipping traffic to navigate and the imposing Musandam mountains starting to block the breeze, boats had to pick their lane through 'the gap', the 470-metre channel between the Musandam headland and the island of Jazirat Musandam, or outside in the offing, rounding the peninsula entirely.
Phil Ellerby's Exodus (Xc 45) threaded the inside gap and this evening briefly stole the lead from Ronan Considine's Nagini (Farr 30), which had rounded wide and traded miles for a cleaner lane. The two boats are now battling for positions at the front of the fleet.
For Heaven Can Wait, who had been leading for most of the first day, the corner marked the start of a difficult stretch. "At about 2am this morning we destroyed our big A5 spinnaker, which is now in about 100 pieces in our boat," said Darren Sheppard. "We got through the gap in the Musandam around 4am in the end, drifted around on the tide for a bit, and today has just been light, and completely flat. We're settling in for a pretty calm, frustrating night."
The French-flagged boat has now dropped to 11th on the water, while Ivana and Aleks is in 10th. Marco Passante's Sandpiper (Beneteau First 34.7) leads the IRC standings and sits seventh in the fleet.
One of the standout recovery stories of the race belongs to Notorious I. Stuart Clarke, racing for the UK alongside Simon Reeves, was down in 14th after tangling with fishing nets on the first night. "After losing an hour and about seven miles to the others, we cut ourselves free, we went wide to the outside of the oil field and then wide again around the top," Clarke explained, whose Beneteau First 44 has covered 20nm more than his rivals ahead. "We got back to fourth on the water by sunset tonight."
Now at the halfway point, the leaders still have over 180 nautical miles to cover before the finish at Marina Bandar Al Rowdha in Muscat. A steady 7-knot westerly breeze accompanied the fleet through the opening phase, but conditions have since gone light. The fleet is now parked in the 'Dibba hole' - the wind shadow behind the mountains - waiting for a new south-easterly breeze forecast to fill in on Tuesday morning. Until then, light and fickle conditions will test every crew's patience.
With boats currently crawling at around 1-2 knots, small gains matter, and the rankings will continuity shift before dawn. The battle for line honours in the 2026 D2M remains wide open.
The 2026 Aramex D2M is organised by the United Arab Emirates Sailing & Rowing Federation (UAE SARF) and Dubai Offshore Sailing Club (DOSC) in association with the Oman Maritime Sports Committee.
To follow the race, go to www.dubaitomuscatrace.com or @doscuae on Instagram.