(MENAFN- Muscat Daily)
The transatlantic race, which began in 1993, follows the historic coffee trading route between France and Brazil. The 4,828km race begins in Le Havre, France and concludes in Salvador, Brazil.
Offshore sailing great Sidney Gavignet of France
Gavignet and Hasni will take on some of the world's best shorthanded sailors in an ambitious programme that will culminate in the TJV race. Hasni has been part of Gavignet's successful exploits over the past six years.
The duo raced together as part of Oman Sail's MOD70 trimaran crew on Musandam-Oman Sail, a pairing that saw the team set three world records (later broken by other teams) over the course of a few years.
Hasni had recently led Team Renaissance to a runner-up spot in the EFG Sailing Arabia-The Tour, a 763 nautical-mile race.
As part of Oman Sail's Class 40 programme, the duo will compete in the Grand Prix Guyader next month, the Normandy Channel Race in May, Les Sables-Horta in July and the legendary Rolex Fastnet Race in August. The duo will be joined on their 40-feet race boat by another MOD70 regular, Sami al Shukaili, for deliveries and crewed races.
'The Class 40 is a category with a busy programme and an ultra-competitive fleet - and that's rare in the offshore sailing world today,' said Gavignet.
'It is the perfect tool to learn and build experience, and to ultimately make good sailors. When you have to do everything yourself, it forces you to learn quickly. Our goal this year is to learn as much as we can, as quickly as we can.'
Hasni said, 'Both Sami and I are really excited to begin this next phase of our sailing careers. Shorthanded sailing is a new discipline for us, but in Sidney, I have the best teacher I could ask for. It is a very competitive fleet, so our learning curve will be steep.'
The 2017 European season will see the return of Oman Sail's Diam 24 campaign for the Tour de France a la Voile led by French sailor and Oman Sail regular, Thierry Douillard.
Douillard's Diam 24 crew will include fellow Frenchman and former match racing world champion Mathieu Richard, British former Olympian Stevie Morrison, and Omani sailors Ali al Balushi and Abdulrahman al Mashari.
A second crew led by Cedric Pouligny and featuring Omanis Yasser al Rahbi, Raad al Hadi, Akram al Wahaibi and Haitham al Wahaibi, will train alongside Douillard's team before the season starts. The first event for the Diam 24 squad will be Le Grand Prix Atlantique in
Pornichet, France, scheduled for March 31-April 2.
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