Up and down day for Oman Sail

A first and a BFD for Oman Sail in the Tour Voile

Today was an up and down one for Oman Sail’s Renaissance. The Oman Sail boat was launched again this morning after a night of repairs. The crew went twice aground yesterday, before to win the first race today and to be called disqualified during the second start.

Rob Greenhalgh today won the first inshore race. Then, he got disqualified under the black flag at the second start, and but then so did Manche – Basse Normandie, Ville de Genève – Carrefour Prévention and Région de Bruxelles Capitale. Oman Sail is now sixth overall and Greenhalgh is still confident.

Greenhalgh commented: “We had a up and down day, a mixed day. Obviously, after our problem on the first leg, hitting the rock, we had a busy night fixing things. Today, we wanted to go and have a good day. We won the first race. We knew we were fast and we won that with a relative ease in the end. And then, in the second race, there was a general recall and a black flag. The tide was very, very strong. We got caught OCS and disqualified. The start line was drifting because of the current, because it was so strong. So the line had moved by five or six boat lengths during the time we set up our computer during the start, which caused us to be over. Not saying it’s anyone’s fault other that our own.”

Jonathan Swain, Groovederci’s crew added: “We had a very interesting first race. We had two collisions. We had to repair at the first mark and then we got into a collision at the second upwind mark too. All of that was because of the current. It was quite difficult to get around the top mark – there was between three and four knots of current. Then, the second race, we had a very good start and after that, it was quite easy. We just had to maintain our second place. It just proved to us, as a team, that if we got a good start, we’re able to stand at the front. We have the speed, and we’ve got the tools.”

The day was better for Ile-de-France 2010 and Toulon-Provence-Méditerranée - COYCH. Third in the first race, Jimmy Pahun’s crew won the second race, while Fabien Henry’s team finished in second and fourth position. Ile-de-France 2010 is fourth in the overall results behind TPM – COYCH.

Tomorrow, the fleet will leave Calais for Dieppe. The start of this second offshore leg is expected at 2.00 pm