Speaking at a press conference less than an hour after mooring at the luxurious Dubai International Marine Club, the men said they had been “very well treated” by their captors and “had even put on weight” after their 60ft yacht, Kingdom of Bahrain, ran into problems with its propellor in the Persian Gulf last Wednesday while sailing from Bahrain to Dubai for the start of a race.
“It was our mistake that we ended up there,” said the boat’s captain, Oliver Smith, 31, from Southampton. “It wasn’t clearly marked on our charts. But we had no intention of upsetting anyone. We just wanted to get here to start the race. The guys on the ground there treated us very well. It was obviously a tense situation, but it got better, more relaxed as they got to know us.”
