Three of Oman’s most celebrated sailors will get the chance to make further history after being selected for the Oman Sail crew for the first ever one-design trimaran MOD70 Multi One Championship. Fahad Al Hasni, Mohsin Al Busaidi, and Khamis Al Anbouri will join a handful of select international crewmates aboard the Sidney Gavignet-skippered Oman Sail MOD70 for this thrilling new circuit, set to test the world’s leading skippers and crews and an exciting new generation of 70ft one-design multihulls.
The Championship, which gets underway in July 2012, brings together the adventure of ocean races with the tension and drama of inshore races, arenas in which the selected Omani sailors have excelled over the past few years.
An integral part of Oman Sail’s offshore team, Fahad was part of the BAE-sponsored team that finished an impressive fifth in the 2011 Tour du France a la Voile, while Mohsin – one of Oman Sail’s very first recruits – was the first Arab to sail non-stop around the world. Ocean racing will be a new challenge for Khamis, who has excelled in Extreme 40 inshore racing, becoming the first Omani to stand on the top of the podium at an international sailing event when he won the 2010 Extreme Sailing Series on Oman Sail’s The Wave, Muscat.
Omanis also make up three-quarters of the four-strong Oman Sail MOD70 shore team with boat builders Mohammed Al Wahaibi and Sulaiman Al Menji also recruited to the project.
The crew for the Oman Sail MOD70 was handpicked by skipper Sidney. The Omani crew selection was run with a week sailing on the MOD70 ‘Race for Water’ in October, followed by a 48-hour intense trek in the Omani mountains. He assessed sailors from the F18, windsurfing and M34 squads plus the more established, experienced Omani sailors.
Sidney said: “In the end it was experience that shone through. I feel confident with the team members surrounding me, a mix of great experience and good personalities, who will create a great atmosphere to catch up as fast as possible on our opposition. One main goal is to build at least one Omani as a primary helmsman.
“Fahad is one of the most promising young Oman Sail sailors and is known as ‘the machine’ when it comes to trimming the spinnakers for hours, non-stop. Moshin is the most experienced offshore Oman Sail sailor and Khamis is highly-motivated to discover offshore and we will help him in that journey. I am looking forward to sailing with my new team.”
Oman Sail takes delivery its new 70ft trimaran this month, just three months ahead the Krys Ocean Race which will kick off the Multi One Design Championship with a 2,950 mile sprint eastbound across the Atlantic from New York (USA) to Brest on the north-west top of France starting on 7 July. In preparation the team will be training in France and taking part in a number of French offshore and inshore races to put both the boat and team to the test.
After the opening Krys Ocean Race, the European Tour element of the MOD70 Multi One Championship takes place between September 2012 and June 2013 and includes events in Marseille (FRA), Cascais (POR), Kiel (GER), Italy and Ireland. Crews will then do battle in the Ocean World Tour part of the Championship from October 2013 to April 2014.
David Graham, CEO of Oman Sail: “The MOD70 will take the Oman Sail project to another level. It is a very powerful boat whose crew will need to have the skill base to perform against some of the world’s best sailors. It is a truly inspirational project that will provide a platform for our current top sailors compete and develop their sailing skills and inspire a whole new generation of Omanis into sailing.”
Completing the Oman Sail MOD70 crew are three highly-experienced French sailors, Loik Gallon, Jean François Cuzon and Thomas Le Breton, alongside the hugely-successful British offshore sailor Brian Thompson.
Technical manager and boat captain, Loik, skippered the 2009 Oman Sail trimaran, Musandam, voyage in which Mohsin became the first Omani to sail non-stop around the world, while navigator Jean François is a former 470 World champion and America’s Cup challenger who has competed in the last two Transat Jacques Vabre transatlantic races. Brian has notched up twenty-five world sailing records, including the recent Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest circumnavigation of the world in the race and Thomas Le Breton is a member of the French Olympic Sailing Squad in the Finn Heavyweight Men’s dinghy class.
Credit : Oman Sail
The Championship, which gets underway in July 2012, brings together the adventure of ocean races with the tension and drama of inshore races, arenas in which the selected Omani sailors have excelled over the past few years.
An integral part of Oman Sail’s offshore team, Fahad was part of the BAE-sponsored team that finished an impressive fifth in the 2011 Tour du France a la Voile, while Mohsin – one of Oman Sail’s very first recruits – was the first Arab to sail non-stop around the world. Ocean racing will be a new challenge for Khamis, who has excelled in Extreme 40 inshore racing, becoming the first Omani to stand on the top of the podium at an international sailing event when he won the 2010 Extreme Sailing Series on Oman Sail’s The Wave, Muscat.
Omanis also make up three-quarters of the four-strong Oman Sail MOD70 shore team with boat builders Mohammed Al Wahaibi and Sulaiman Al Menji also recruited to the project.
The crew for the Oman Sail MOD70 was handpicked by skipper Sidney. The Omani crew selection was run with a week sailing on the MOD70 ‘Race for Water’ in October, followed by a 48-hour intense trek in the Omani mountains. He assessed sailors from the F18, windsurfing and M34 squads plus the more established, experienced Omani sailors.
Sidney said: “In the end it was experience that shone through. I feel confident with the team members surrounding me, a mix of great experience and good personalities, who will create a great atmosphere to catch up as fast as possible on our opposition. One main goal is to build at least one Omani as a primary helmsman.
“Fahad is one of the most promising young Oman Sail sailors and is known as ‘the machine’ when it comes to trimming the spinnakers for hours, non-stop. Moshin is the most experienced offshore Oman Sail sailor and Khamis is highly-motivated to discover offshore and we will help him in that journey. I am looking forward to sailing with my new team.”
Oman Sail takes delivery its new 70ft trimaran this month, just three months ahead the Krys Ocean Race which will kick off the Multi One Design Championship with a 2,950 mile sprint eastbound across the Atlantic from New York (USA) to Brest on the north-west top of France starting on 7 July. In preparation the team will be training in France and taking part in a number of French offshore and inshore races to put both the boat and team to the test.
After the opening Krys Ocean Race, the European Tour element of the MOD70 Multi One Championship takes place between September 2012 and June 2013 and includes events in Marseille (FRA), Cascais (POR), Kiel (GER), Italy and Ireland. Crews will then do battle in the Ocean World Tour part of the Championship from October 2013 to April 2014.
David Graham, CEO of Oman Sail: “The MOD70 will take the Oman Sail project to another level. It is a very powerful boat whose crew will need to have the skill base to perform against some of the world’s best sailors. It is a truly inspirational project that will provide a platform for our current top sailors compete and develop their sailing skills and inspire a whole new generation of Omanis into sailing.”
Completing the Oman Sail MOD70 crew are three highly-experienced French sailors, Loik Gallon, Jean François Cuzon and Thomas Le Breton, alongside the hugely-successful British offshore sailor Brian Thompson.
Technical manager and boat captain, Loik, skippered the 2009 Oman Sail trimaran, Musandam, voyage in which Mohsin became the first Omani to sail non-stop around the world, while navigator Jean François is a former 470 World champion and America’s Cup challenger who has competed in the last two Transat Jacques Vabre transatlantic races. Brian has notched up twenty-five world sailing records, including the recent Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest circumnavigation of the world in the race and Thomas Le Breton is a member of the French Olympic Sailing Squad in the Finn Heavyweight Men’s dinghy class.
From : Oman Sail
