The 36th Spi Ouest France Intermarché concluded yesterday after an action-packed four days of competition between 408 crews in La Trinite-sur-Mer. The M34 international race squad led by French skipper Sidney Gavignet sailed into 3rd place overall and showed gradual progress throughout the long Easter weekend. Two other Omani flagged boats racing on the same patch of water but with a much bigger learning curve also progressed throughout the event, with the first-ever all-Omani male crew on one of the Oman Sail J80s finishing 66th out of 89, two places ahead of the all-women team onboard Al Thuraya Bank Muscat.
The 2,500 sailors racing Spi Ouest enjoyed excellent if somewhat challenging conditions with light and fluky wind putting the race committee as well as those calling tactics to the test. Skipper and tactician Gavignet onboard the M34 was one such, although he is taking the long view with both the Tour de France a la Voile on the M34 and the Round Britain & Ireland race on the MOD70 ahead for the Oman Sail squad that will rotate between the two platforms to maximise their development.
“We had a great team for Spi Ouest and achieved the objectives that we set ourselves, the communication with Damien Iehl (helmsman) was a priority and that got better race by race,” described Gavignet. “We have a way to go in our preparations for the Tour de France a la Voile, but it is going well so far. We are also pushing our Omani colleagues to grow and gain knowledge and confidence on the boat and I was very pleased with how Mohammed Al Mujaini in particular developed throughout the event. We can count on him for the Tour. For the next event, we will rotate the crew which will allow us to develop the wider race squad as a whole.”
Developing the full race squad is one of the main season objectives, ultimately Oman Sail is focussed on using the power of sport to contribute to the development of the Omani people and improving the ability of their Omani sailors is central to this initiative. The race squad will be rotated onto the M34 and MOD70 crews throughout the season, starting today back in Lorient, when Sidney and five of the Omani sailors will be taking the MOD70 for a shakedown sail and some training ahead of the Grand Prix Guyader that starts on the 2 May. “We are taking it gently, but having had a fantastic weekend on the M34, I am looking forward to getting back on the multihull!” said Gavignet.
Mohammed Al Mujaini, who was running the pit on the M34 at Spi Ouest was delighted with the weekend’s progress: “We developed race by race and I had lots of opportunity to learn from the international sailors onboard in many different areas, while also training towards the Tour de France a la Voile. I learnt how to make the boat go faster. We were fighting at the top of the fleet and scored some good results which made me proud for Oman Sail and Oman – it feels like we have done good work this weekend.”
His crewmates onboard the J80, the first-ever all-Omani team, that included The Wave, Muscat crewmember Nasser Al Mashari who will travel to China next for Act 3 of the Extreme Sailing Series, plus Ali Al Balushi, Sami Al Shukily and regular on the MOD70, Fahad Al Hasni, were equally pleased with their steep learning curve. Fahad was realistic about expectations, but pleased with their progress: “As a first time all-Omani crew it was very interesting and we didn’t really expect to be middle of the fleet. It was great preparation towards the Tour de France a la Voile as we are rotating as a squad and learning more about the different roles onboard. We will get better and better,” he said, adding: “I am going back to the MOD70 this week with Sidney to prepare for the first event of the year, it has been six months since we sailed the boat, but we are familiar with it and Sidney is counting on me to show the others the ropes.” Mohammed Al Mujaini, Ali Al Balushi, Sami Al Shukily and Yasser Al Rahbi will join Fahad and Sidney onboard the MOD70 this week.
Impressively finishing just two places behind the all-Omani team on the J80, Al Thuraya Bank Muscat and the all-women team made huge progress on their starts and their confidence grew throughout the event. British Olympic sailor Mary Rook and four sailors from the fledgling Oman Sail Women’s Sailing Programme (WSP), including Raiya Al Habsi, Rajaa Al Owaisi, Ibtisam Al Salmi and Nashwa Al Kindi, worked hard on the communication aspects of calling the wind and trimming the sails, gradually improving and as a result enjoying the event more as the WSP squad started to get a real grasp of the racing. “We learned a lot this event, last year I was on the bow and this year I was trimming – thanks to Mary, I learned a lot and quickly. We go back to Oman now to keep training for the next event, we are motivated and will keep working hard and never give up, that’s the example we want to set for the young women back home!”
The WSP was created in 2011 to offer equal opportunity to Omani women in sailing and in the short period since its inception, Raiya has experienced sailing a MOD70 in the Fastnet, Rajaa has skippered a boat for two seasons and Nashwa who is one of the sailing school instructors became the first Arab woman to sail an Ocean passage alongside Hilary Lister from India to Oman.
