INDONESIA and Monaco are set to make their debuts in this year’s Al Bareh International Regatta 2013, due to take place from June 25 to 29 at the Bahrain Maritime Sports Association (BMSA) premises near Al Jazayer Beach.

Both nations have signed up for the highly anticipated 20th edition of the race thanks to the outstanding reputation gained by Bahrain in hosting major international sailing competitions over the past years.

The latest additions to this year’s event bring the total number of participants to 14 countries to come from all over the world.

Other teams lined up for the five-day annual championship, which has become one of the major international sailing events in the region, come from Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Oman, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, India and host nation Bahrain.

More than 100 sailors are scheduled to compete in four different classes in the regatta, namely the Optimist, Laser Radial, Laser 4.7 and the Laser Standard.

BMSA and its president Shaikh Khalifa bin Abdulla Al Khalifa have stepped up their preparations ahead of the teams’ arrival, which is expected to begin soon.

Shaikh Khalifa said he is pleased to have this championship organised on its original dates and without any delays, affirming its wide popularity among national and international sailors from across the globe.

He noted that it is part of the association’s duty to contribute to the development of the sailing discipline in Bahrain, and thanked Supreme Council for Youth and Sports chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who has been fully supporting the event in past years.

Meanwhile, the organising committee has invited several international professional juries to run the competition. Luca Babini of Italy is heading the jury committee.

Other committee members are China’s Chang Zhuohong, Dr. Walch Lorenz of Germany, Paul Schilizzi and Marina Psychogyiou of Greece, Abdulahmeed Morsi of Egypt, Pakistan’s Abdul Rehman Arshad and Bahraini Issa Al Busmit.

Over 50 sailors from Bahrain and abroad had competed in last year’s edition, which saw host country’s Abdulrahim Abdulla winning the Laser Standard class title.

Fellow Bahraini sailors Dawood Abdulla and Saoud Al Naar came on top in the Laser 4.7 and Optimist Classes, respectively, while Egypt’s Ahmed Raghab took the Laser Radial trophy.