Artemis Challenge – Betsen and Saunders to join Musandam-Oman Sail

by Oman Sail on 10 Aug 2015 2015 Artemis Challenge – French rugby legend Serge Betsen is a sailing novice but his reputation as a ‘gladiator’ could be worth a vital few knots in speed to Oman Sail’s MOD70 Musandam-Oman Sail when it makes a bid on the record.

Betsen, who won 63 caps for France between 1997 and 2007, will join English explorer Ben Saunders to form a celebrity ‘express’ crew that according to Musandam-Oman Sail skipper Sidney Gavignet is likely to prove both inspirational to the young Omani crew on board and extremely fast.

The famous French flanker is known for his commitment, pride and passion, qualities that are key to Oman Sail’s development culture. They are also characteristics that Gavignet, another proud and passionate Frenchman, prizes highly.

“I am really looking forward to meeting Serge Betsen and having him on our crew for the Artemis Challenge,” he said.

“He is known as The Warrior and is famous for his heroism in the scrum.

“He has all the characteristics that I find inspiring and hope that our Omani crewmembers will also be inspired by him. Ben Saunders is the same – these guys just never give up. They fight hard but they are also humble. These are fantastic qualities and values that we all need in our jobs.”

Betsen runs the Serge Betsen Academy which aims to help underprivileged children in Cameroon, his native country and even before he jumps on board Musandam-Oman Sail for the 50 mile sprint around the Isle of Wight, he has spotted some similarities between rugby and sailing.

“Sailing is like rugby in that it is played outside whatever the weather and you are always expected to perform at your highest possible level,” he said.

“It is also a sport where you need good team work to succeed. For the success of the team you need to perform in every sector. I haven’t done much sailing so I shall be taking some pointers before we start out but I am really excited by the challenge of being part of this sailing team.”

Like Betsen, Saunders, the world-leading polar explorer and a record-breaking long-distance skier has little experience racing on high speed trimarans.

“It will be my first time on one of these boats but it will be an exhilarating test of stamina, strength and fitness and I am extremely excited to be competing with some of the biggest names in offshore ocean racing,” he said.

“As a polar explorer, I have a strong passion for the outdoors and enjoy setting myself new challenges, pushing myself both mentally and physically beyond the limits of the impossible.”

On Thursday August 13, the Sultanate of Oman's flagship, Musandam-Oman Sail, will line up against a fleet of sailing thoroughbreds with ten IMOCA 60s, two Volvo 65s and three other multihulls in contention for the title.

On board are some of the biggest names in international sailing and world sport including rugby contemporaries Mike Tindall from England and Sylvain Marconnet of France as well as round the world skippers Dee Caffari, Armel Le Cleac'h, Vincent Riou and Alex Thomson.

All 16 boats will be aiming for line honours and if the right breezy conditions prevail, for a new Artemis Challenge record which for multihulls is two hours, 21 minutes and 25 seconds set by Foncia in 2012 and for monohulls, three hours 43 minutes and 50 seconds set by Leopard in 2013.

“We are entering this race to try to win it,” said Gavignet.

“We finished just behind Foncia in 2012 which was frustrating so this is a great opportunity to attempt to add another record to the Sultanate of Oman’s growing collection.”