Three Oman Sail crews kick off their 2016 European campaigns at Spi Ouest in France

Muscat: Oman Sail’s young sailors and their mentors head off to chilly North Atlantic waters this week where three separate crews, including the new Oman Airports Diam 24, an all Omani men’s team and the Oman Sail Women’s Team launch their 2016 campaigns in Europe at the Spi Ouest event at La Trinite-sur-Mer in France. Fresh from the exciting demands of the recent EFG Sailing Arabia – the Tour, Oman Sail’s flagship event, Fahad Al Hassani takes command of the Oman Sail Men’s Team, who are racing their Grand Surprise with a team of well-known Omani names including Oman Air’s star GC32 bowman Nasser Al Mashari. Swapping the heat of Oman, where Men’s Team crewmembers have been training or racing, for the severe cold of northern France will be the main challenge for the crew, said Al Hassani, who leads a talented group featuring Sami Al Shukaili, Yasser Al Rahabi, Raad al Hadi and Ahmed Al Hassani. “It is a big change in temperature and conditions but we are really looking forward to the challenge of competing at Spi Ouest,” said Al Hassani. “We have raced together before but this is the first time an all Omani crew has competed here in France so we are very proud to be involved and hope we can do well. The most important thing is for us to carry on improving and developing and this is a great opportunity.” The Men’s Team is being coached by Oman Sail’s MOD70 skipper and training consultant Sidney Gavignet who will also be keeping an eye on their brand new Diam 24 crew Oman Airports by Oman Sail, skippered by Thierry Douillard and helmed by British Olympian Stevie Morrison. Oman Airports by Oman Sail, with Ali Al Balushi and Abdulrahman Al Mashari on board is preparing to compete in the Tour de France a la Voile in France in July and Spi Ouest marks the start of their 24-foot trimaran training. “These boats are really exciting, this is a great event and we have the the Tour de France a la Voile as our goal so there is a real buzz to this campaign,” said Morrison who raced with Al Balushi on the Extreme 40 Oman Air last year. “By the time we start racing on Friday, we will only have been in the boat for a few days so we have a steep learning curve ahead of us but this is all about training, about preparing for the Tour so our focus is on getting to grips with the boat and building our team.” Fellow Brit, Dee Caffari has been all over British television over the past fortnight after her involvement with a charity sail around Britain with a group of celebrities but returns to the Oman Sail Women’s Team this week to race in the highly competitive J80 fleet. She is being reunited with her EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour crew of Marwa Al Khaifi, Tamadher Al Balushi, Annemieke Bes from the Netherlands and Ibtisam Al Salmi, one of the Middle East’s first professional female sailors and is hoping their two weeks together will pay dividends in this European curtain-raiser. “There is a huge J80 fleet at Spi Ouest so they have split it in two but this is the third time the girls have competed here so depending on who else is involved, I would hope they will be in the mix. “They know the boat and they have done it before so we don’t want to be following everyone else around the course. We want to race well but the girls haven’t competed inshore for a while so it might take them some time to get into the swing of it. We want to see them take more responsibility for the boat and the project so they can eventually race without us if necessary.” After Spi Ouest, the Oman Sail Women’s Team will take on a couple of training events in France before Normandy Week, which is where they traditionally achieve their best performances. Spi Ouest takes place in La Trinite sur Mer from March 24-28. It is France’s first event of the 2016 season and has attracted a massive fleet of 400 yachts which will race each day in a series of inshore and coastal races in Quiberon Bay.