Sidney Gavignet, French skipper of Musandam-Oman Sail, Oman’s 70ft flagship campaign supported by the Ministry of Tourism, is through the first 72-hours of the single-handed trans-Atlantic Route du Rhum from St Malo to Guadeloupe. After three days of rough and windy conditions in the Bay of Biscay and at Cape Finisterre, Sidney is currently relishing warmer weather and the prospect of trade winds.
with steadily improving conditions, the 45-year-old skipper can now establish a routine onboard Musandam-Oman Sail which is racing six other multihulls in the “Ultime” Class, while the rest of the fleet is still subject to Atlantic low-pressure weather systems with the strong winds and challenging seas that they bring. Gavignet was upbeat when he called on Tuesday at 1000 to report on the previous night’s adventures: “I was able to get some rest last night and again this morning, I slept with the sheets (the ropes attached to the sails) in my hands just in case and managed to fall asleep two or three times, in between I woke up to tweak the boat to go faster. This morning I have eased my foot back onto the accelerator a bit.
“Otherwise all is well – I am relieved to be out of the high risk zone as it was pretty dangerous – you had to be very alert and ready to react the entire time. “The good news is it is getting warmer but Musandam-Oman Sail and I are in a big sea way – it’s beautiful out here right now. I can’t see any of my fellow competitors for the moment; I think we are quite far from one another.
“I am at last warming up and thanks to Marinepool I’m pretty dry. Which is good, as my jet burner for cooking has broken so no more warm food until Guadeloupe! It’s not a major though – I can still eat.
“I just saw 34 knots of boat speed while talking to you as I surfed down a wave! We have about 30 knots of wind and as the day progresses we will sail out of the squall zone – I have blue sky and fluffy white clouds above me and when the sun comes out it is lovely and warm…“Right – back to work for me!”
