(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Team Oman Sail was placed third after two days of racing in the 2014 Tour de France a la Voile (TDV) at the Dunkirk race course on Sunday.
Despite the wet and cold conditions, Team Oman Sail, led by Sidney Gavignet, claimed a win in the second of the two inshore races held in gusty wind conditions on the second day of the event.
The team had come third in the first inshore race, which was won by Groupama 34. Following two days of inshore racing, the nine teams departed on late on Sunday for the first offshore leg from Dunkirk to Dieppe in Normandy.
Gavignet said, ''In the second race we had a good start, as always, with Damien Iehl. We had a good speed upwind and we are very pleased with our performance. It's interesting to note that we had a majority of Omani sailors onboard today, with four Omanis [Fahad al Hasni, Ali al Balushi, Nasser al Mashari and Mohammed al Mujaini] and three Frenchmen."
''Yesterday, we proved we had great potential, but we made a few mistakes that cost us a lot, even though we were fighting among the top boats. It was good to make those mistakes because now we know what we should not do.''
On the opening day, Team Oman Sail could manage only one podium finish at third spot in the three inshore races. It finished a close fourth in the opening race and finished the day with an eighth place.
Mashari said, ''We have had a good first couple of days. We are now keen to get the first of the offshore legs under our belt. It is a long month ahead, so we will be pacing ourselves carefully while pushing as hard as we can to achieve the results we want.''
TDV standings (after five inshore races):
1 Groupama 34 (120 pts), 2 Courrier Dunkerque (117) 3 Team Oman Sail (111), 4 Bretagne-Credit Mutuel Elite (110), 5 Ville de Geneve-Carrefoux Addictions (104), 6 Normandy- Acerel (103), 7 Toulon Provence Mediterranee (99 pts), 8 Nantes Saint-Nazaire (95), 9 Be Brussels Bienne Voile (85).
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