Oman Sail's Renaissance Tour de France à la Voile team in action on the Farr 30 on day one of Normandy Sailing Week, which they won. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/LLoyd Images/Oman Sail.
by Nicky Moore
Oman Sail’s Renaissance is in final preparations for the forthcoming Tour de France à la Voile (TDV) which starts in France this coming Saturday 26th June. Less than a week remains before the international crew, skippered by renowned British offshore sailor Robert Greenhalgh, embarks on one of the biggest events in the French sailing calendar.
Oman Sail’s Renaissance has had an outstanding debut performance in the Farr 30 class in May after finishing first in Normandy Sailing Week and second in the Grand Prix of Pornichet in April. Expectations are high for the international crew, which features Volvo Ocean Race sailor and skiff world champion Phil Harmer (AUS) and Melges 24 Champion Cédric Pouligny (FRA) as well as five up and coming sailors from Oman. These sailors are part of the Oman Sail Race Team, led by 27-year-old Nasser Al Mashari. No stranger to the world of grand prix racing, Nasser has been competing with the Oman Sail Extreme 40 teams for the last two years, most recently winning the Extreme Sailing Series Asia on board Masirah.
Talking ahead of the start from the team’s base in the UK skipper Robert Greenhalgh said: ”The Tour De Voile is simply one of the best events in the world, sailed in great boats at a very high level and I’m excited that Oman Sail have got involved in such a great race. It has been a great learning experience for the Omani crewmembers, however they are fully part of the team, and it is a team effort that will be required in order to perform well. I think our results have shown that we are definitely capable of delivering. We surprised ourselves and surpassed our expectations by winning in Pornichet where we were aiming to finish in the top five. We wanted to finish in the top three in Normandy and we won comfortably. Our aim for the TDV still remains to finish in the top five”.
Robert Greenhalgh. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/LLoyd Images/Oman Sail.
The team has been put together as part of the wider Oman Sail Race Team, hailing from the Sultanate of Oman, which sees a range of boats and sailors compete at international level. Most recently Oman Sail’s Extreme 40’s (The Wave, Muscat and Masirah) who established themselves on the Extreme 40 Sailing Series in 2009, have proven their dominance of the class in 2010. Former Masirah crew member Nasser Al Mashari is sailing as pitman onboard Renaissance for the TDV, “We have been working hard as a team, racing alongside incredibly experienced sailors such as Rob and Cedric has been a great learning experience for us. My experience from the Extreme 40 circuit has been invaluable and it’s great to be passing my knowledge onto my fellow team mates and to see the progress they have already made after just two events. We are full of anticipation for the TDV and we can’t wait to get started”.
Sailed onboard identical Farr 30 boats, the Tour de France à la Voile takes in 10 stops covering 1,000 miles of inshore and offshore legs. The route starts in Dunkerque and takes in the entire length of the French coast, finally finishing a month later in La Seyne sur Mer in the Mediterranean.
Oman Sail Renaissance Crew List:
Rob Greenhalgh (GBR) – Skipper
Cédric Pouligny (FRA) – Helm
Anthony Haines (GBR) - Bow and Boat Captain
Nawaf Al Gheedani (Oman) – Second Bow
Nasser Al Mashari (Oman) – Pit
Phil Hammer (AUS) - Trimnmer
Nat Yves (GB) – Navigator
Abdullah Al Farsi (Oman) – Mastman
Yassir Al Rahbi (Oman) – Crew
Ali Al Balushi (Oman) – Crew
Oman Sail
Tour de France à la Voile
