Michi Mueller joins Oman Sail

Former Puma crewman goes three hull for European Tour

Former Puma VO70 crewman, German Michi Mueller, is to join the MOD 70 Musandam-Oman Sail, as a member of the inshore race crew for the upcoming European Tour which kicks off in Kiel on 30 August.

Mueller, born in Kiel, will bring additional offshore experience to the multi-national crew that selects its members as much for their knowledge as their ability to transfer it to the Omani crew on board.

Skipper, Sidney Gavignet from France, who raced with Mueller in the 2008 Volvo Ocean Race, will also have fellow Frenchmen Jeff Cuzon and Thomas Lebreton on board, plus Brian Thompson in addition to Mohsin Al Busaidi and Fahad Al Asni from Oman. Mueller and Khamis Al Amburi, will be inshore race crew for the European Tour.

Mueller grew up in one of the most popular areas for sailing in Germany and took up keelboat sailing in his youth, racing on IMS 30s and other big boats as he looked to build his experience. His break into professional sailing came in 2005 when he joined United Internet Team Germany for the 2007 America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain. This was swiftly followed by a Volvo Ocean Race campaign on Puma with Gavignet in 2008/9 in which they finished runners-up. Next came the All4One Sailing Team, a French/German collaboration that competed in the Louis Vuitton Trophy in France, New Zealand, Italy and Dubai and also the Audi MedCup on TP52s. Mueller has just finished his second VOR on Puma, finishing third.

Mueller is looking forward to bringing his experience to Oman Sail and helping the up and coming Omani sailors learn more in this challenging but rewarding career. With a background in engineering, his technical knowledge will also be a useful asset to the team.

“I’m looking forward to joining Oman Sail as inshore race crew, I enjoy the in-port racing in particular,” he says. “And I like working on perfecting manoeuvres, developing systems and experimenting with new ways of doing things. The crew are already on a good learning curve, they had some problems on the transatlantic race after the boat suffered from foil damage, but these are all learning experiences. I hope to be able to bring something to the team and to be able to contribute to the Omani’s experience.”

The Musandam-Oman Sail MOD 70 is heading to Cowes on the Isle of Wight, UK, for the Artemis Challenge on 16 August before sailing to Kiel to start the European Tour.