The Omanis on board Oman’s flagship, the Multi One Design 70, Musandam-Oman Sail made history today when they crossed the Krys Ocean Race start line in New York to race across the Atlantic to Brest, France.
The 70ft trimaran was first off the dock this morning and emotions were running high: “I am ready and very, very proud!” said Mohsin Al Busaidi, who was the first Arab to sail around the world. “It’s the first time an Omani boat with Omani crew has raced across the Atlantic and I am proud that Fahad and I are representing our country onboard and hope that in the future we will have more and more Omanis sailing with us.”
Major General (Retired) Albert Whitley, Oman Sail executive director, was in New York to watch the start in Manhattan: “It’s a remarkable day for Oman, a great day for the crew and a great day for the youngsters of Oman looking at this. The Omanis on board are transforming themselves from being extremely competent seamen to being offshore racers. We are in a fleet of five evenly matched boats and are competing against some of the best in the world – what could be better?” He added: “We have three priorities: to get the crew safely to Brest, to get the boat safely to Brest and to do as well as we can. I am very proud of them.”
French skipper Sidney Gavignet’s multinational crew includes the fastest man around the world Brian Thompson (GBR), who is 2nd in command and will also be the media man onboard: “This is a very challenging fleet to race against, we will be focussing on getting across safely and sailing well, we’ll be trying to get a good result in Brest,” he said.
There were no points on offer in the prologue race and New York Speed Match this week, but the 3,342 nm transatlantic race offers the first chance for the five crews on board their high speed trimarans to race for points and steal a march on opponents ahead of the rest of the MOD70 programme.
“It’s quite special to be skippering Musandam-Oman Sail on its first Atlantic race, the fleet is tough, the competition will be high, but I am proud to be leading the team on board in what is the Omani’s first major offshore race and our first proper adventure together,” said Sidney Gavignet (FRA), skipper.
As the only American in the fleet, Ryan Breymaier from Maryland said: “It’s pretty exciting for me to have the opportunity to represent my country on board such a multinational boat as this one with French, British and Omani sailors. The weather is looking good for the crossing, which should get us over pretty quickly which is always a good thing! Starting a boat race under the skyscrapers of Manhattan is pretty impressive.”
The five-strong MOD70 fleet crossed the start line positioned beneath the Statue of Liberty shortly after 1100.
Musandam-Oman Sail MOD 70 race crew
- Sidney Gavignet (FRA)
- Mohsin Al Busaidi (OMA)
- Fahad Al Hasni (OMA)
- Brian Thompson (GBR)
- Jeff Cuzon (FRA)
- Ryan Breymaier (USA) (stand-in for Loik Gallon (FRA), who is injured)
