(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman Sail's 11-member M34 squad will be aiming for a podium finish when it lines up against some of France's leading offshore sailors for the 37th edition of the eight-stage Tour de France a la Voile (TDV) race on Friday.
The race will start in Dunkerque and take the fleet around the coast of France over the 733 nautical-mile race before finishing in Nice at the end of July. This will be the fifth time that Oman Sail is competing and its squad comprises a mix of Omani and French crew sailors, who have been training for this event since February.
As part of the build-up, the team raced in Sailing Arabia-The Tour, Spi Ouest, and Grand Prix Guyader and the Normandy Sailing Week. Among the four Omani sailors on board is Mohammed al Mujaini, who said, ''We are approaching the event with a lot more preparation this year and we hope to achieve a podium finish. This will be my third Tour and I am proud to be selected to represent Oman again at the renowned sailing event.''
The team's skipper, Sidney Gavignet of France, said, ''We have been building towards the TDV since the start of the year. We have a good team, we will have to be confident, vigilant and focussed and we need to avoid errors and seize every opportunity to gain points. We need to get into the game immediately and remain there till the end.''
The nine-boat fleet will race a combination of offshore, coastal and inshore legs starting with a prologue on Friday, followed by a two-day inshore regatta in Dunkerque before the fleet heads to Dieppe, Granville and then Roscoff. The boats will then be moved by trucks to Roses in Spain from where they will race to France's Gruissan, Hyeres and the final weekend race in Nice from July 25-27.
M34 squad: Damien Lehl, Sidney Gavignet, Fahad al Hasni, Ali al Balushi, Nasser al Mashari, Mohammed al Mujaini, Gilles Favennec, Alexandre Pallu, Cedric Pouligny, Guillaume Beranger, Gerald Veniard.
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