(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Mohsin al Busaidi, Oman's most experienced offshore sailor, has been appointed skipper of Team Renaissance for the upcoming EFG Sailing Arabia-The Tour (SATT), to be held from February 9-23.
A veteran of three editions of the SATT, Busaidi, who was the also first Arab to circumnavigate the globe non-stop, will lead an all-Omani crew for the first time in the fourth edition of the race and is confident of a solid finish.
He will be up against Sidney Gavignet, the French legend who was his skipper on the MOD70 Oman Air-Musandam last year and also Cedric Pouligny, Oman Sail's M34 skipper in the Tour de France a la Voile, among other formidable SATT competitors.
Busaidi said, ''We are hoping to be on the podium because I have a good team that has Fahad al Hasani, who was with Oman Air-Musandam, and Ahmed al Mamari, who was skipper of Team Renaissance two years ago. I will also have two young sailors, who will be selected from a pool of six youngsters. Our intention is to help them develop.''
He added, ''We have to be realistic because Sidney and Cedric are superb sailors and well respected in the sailing world. But I hope to be on the podium in two or three legs. This is going to be a big jump for my team.''
There will be no professional navigator on board Team Renaissance and Busaidi will have to call on his experience and knowledge of local conditions to make sure progress is swift, with help from Hasani and Mamari.
Having participated in the race thrice already, Busaidi believes the routes from Qatar to Abu Dhabi and then from Ras al Khaimah round the Musandam Peninsula into the Straits of Hormuz will be the two most testing legs for his crew.
''We have been training and working hard in our preparations, so hopefully, we will get a good result and we are looking forward to it,'' he sai
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.