Michi Mueller, born in Kiel, Germany, joins Oman’s Multi One Design 70, Musandam-Oman Sail, as a member of the inshore race crew for the upcoming European Tour which kicks off in Kiel on 30 August.
The German sailor will bring additional offshore experience to the multi-national crew that selects its members as much for their knowledge as their ability to transfer it to the Omani team members onboard.
Skipper, Sidney Gavignet from France, has included fellow Frenchmen Jeff Cuzon and Thomas Lebreton, plus the fastest man around the world, Brian Thompson from the UK, in addition to Mohsin Al Busaidi and Fahad Al Asni from Oman. Michi Mueller will join Khamis Al Amburi, as inshore race crew for the European Tour inshore races.
Mueller grew up in one of the most popular areas for sailing in Germany and took up keelboat sailing in his youth, racing on IMS 30s and other big boats as he looked to build his experience. His break into professional sailing came in 2005 when he joined United Internet Team Germany for the 2007 America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain. This was swiftly followed by a Volvo Ocean Race campaign on Puma in 2008/9 in which they finished runners-up. Next came the All4One Sailing Team, a French/German collaboration that competed in the Louis Vuitton Trophy in France, New Zealand, Italy and Dubai and also the Audi MedCup on TP52s. Michi has just finished his second VOR on Puma, finishing third.
Musandam-Oman Sail’s Sidney Gavignet first worked with Michi on Puma Racing in 2008 and believes the German will be a valuable addition to the crew. Having served his apprenticeship in offshore racing just a few years ago, Michi estimates he has since clocked up more than 100,000 nautical miles of hard racing across the world’s oceans.
Now he is looking forward to bringing his experience to Oman Sail and helping the up and coming Omani sailors learn more in this challenging but rewarding career. With a background in engineering, his technical knowledge will also be a useful asset to the team.
“I’m looking forward to joining Oman Sail as inshore race crew, I enjoy the in-port racing in particular,” says Michi, “and I like working on perfecting manoeuvres, developing systems and experimenting with new ways of doing things. The crew are already on a good learning curve, they had some problems on the transatlantic race after the boat suffered from foil damage, but these are all learning experiences. I hope to be able to bring something to the team and to be able to contribute to the Omani’s experience.”
Already some major milestones have been passed, not least that Omani crewmembers Fahad Al Hasni and Mohsin Al Busaidi became the first Omanis to complete a transatlantic race on board an Omani boat.
Gavignet describes their contribution as “immense”, and despite limited experience, their progress over the five action-packed days across the Atlantic, deeply impressive. “Since they left Lorient, the difference in Fahad and Mohsin has been huge in terms of attitude, work rate, knowledge of manoeuvres and what we should be doing next,” says Gavignet. “They have contributed hard work and good humour to our team. They have become excellent seamen and superb mariners. It’s been fantastic sailing with them.”
The Musandam-Oman Sail MOD 70 is heading to Cowes on the Isle of Wight, UK, for the Artemis Challenge on 16 August before sailing to Kiel to start the European Tour.
Multi One Design European Tour 2012 – calendar
Kiel, Germany
30 August: media day
31 August: Speed Match
1 September: City Race
2-5 September: Kiel to Dublin offshore
Dublin, Ireland
7 September: Speed Match
8 September: City Race
9-12 September: Dublin-Cascais offshore
Cascais, Portugal
14 September: Speed Match
15 September: City Race
16 September: City Race
17-18 September: Around Portugal
20-23 September: Cascais-Marseille offshore
Marseille, France
28 September: Speed Match and City Race
29 September: City Race
30 September-2 October: Marseille-Genoa offshore
Genoa, Italy
3 October: Pro-Am racing
Musandam-Oman Sail Crew List
Offshore:
Mohsin Al Busaidi (OMA)
Fahad Al Asni (OMA)
Brian Thompson (GBR)
Jean François Cuzon (FRA)
Thomas Lebreton (FRA)
Sidney Gavignet (FRA)
Inshore:
Khamis Al Amburi (OMA)
Michi Muller (GER, from Kiel)
