(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman Sail's new Class 40 duo of Sidney Gavignet and Fahad al Hasni produced a defiant performance to finish sixth among a fleet of 18 teams in the first leg of the 2,500-mile Les Sables-Horta-Les Sables race.
The race, which began on July 2, took the duo from Les Sablesd'Olonne in western France to Horta in the archipelago of the Azores. During the race, the pair climbed to second place at one stage but suffered a blow when the boat's bowsprit failed on Wednesday restricting their charge.
After completing the first-leg, Hasni said, 'It has been a long race in sometimes difficult conditions and breaking our bowsprit cost us some places. But I have learned a great deal. Ocean racing is not easy all the time, and it has been good to benefit from Sidney's experience. We have the second leg back to Les Sables to show again what we can do. We will be ready.' Gavignet was pleased with their learning curve despite the mechanical glitch.
'We have learned so much about this boat which we had never sailed in more than 15 knots of wind before. She is a powerful machine, as expected, and is the perfect tool to get proper offshore experience. The boat has fantastic potential.' 'Fahad has shown he is a very strong sailor. It is not easy being alone on deck at night when you are pushing hard with the spinnaker up, but he enjoys the adventure. It reminds me of my
Volvo Ocean Race experience - Fahad will make a great crew for that one day,' said Gavignet, a veteran of four Volvo races. The first-leg was won by Tales II raced by Gonzalo Botin and Pablo Santurde. The pair completed the race in five days, 23 hours five minutes and 42 seconds. Despite the handicap, Gavignet is realistic of a podium finish at the end of race. The return leg starts on July 14.
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