Oman Sail's trimaran Musandam on standby for circumnavigation start

11:50 AM Wed 7 Jan 2009 GMT

'Musandam. Photo: Lloyd Images/Oman Sail' Oman Sail

Oman Sail's 75-foot trimaran 'Musandam' is ready to depart on her circumnavigation of the globe under the new colours of Oman and with a 5-man crew, including Mohsin Ali Al Busaidi, who is to attempt to become the first ever Omani to sail around the world.

Weather dependent, Musandam will depart Marina Bander Al Rowdha for the start line tomorrow, Thursday, 8th January 2009 at 1400hrs.

In their first attempt to sail Musandam non-stop from Muscat to Muscat, Mohsin and the international crew on Musandam are likely to sail over 40,000 kilometres via the Indian Ocean and the three great Capes of the Southern Ocean - Cape Leeuwin (south-west tip of Australia), via the Cook Straits (NZ) to the notorious Cape Horn (tip of South America) and Cape of Good Hope (southern tip of South Africa) before turning left and heading back towards Muscat. The five crew will endure the calms and heat of the tropics for only ten percent of the journey and will spend the majority of the trip in the freezing and hostile Southern Ocean where temperatures, with wind chill, will regularly be below -10oC.

Musandam crew:
Loik Gallon (FRA) - Skipper
Mohsin Ali Al Busaidi (Oman)
Thierry Duprey Du Vorsent (FRA)
Charles Darbyshire (GBR)
Nick Houchin (GBR)

Q: Is Musandam ready to go? What is left to do before departure?
Charles Darbyshire: Musandam is ready to leave! Everything that is needed for the round the world trip is onboard. A few days before the team broke up for a two-week Christmas break, the tool boxes and spares boxes were sealed with a cable tie to stop anything being used from our onboard kit - a sure sign we are nearing the end of our preparation. The last things to be added in the days before the boat's departure on 8th January will be the food, and personal clothing and possessions.

Over the Christmas break although divided by many thousands of miles a common thought has been lurking in the back of everyone's mind - what else... What else do we need to do, what else may we have missed, what else could be done to make life better onboard, more reliable, more comfortable... The odd phone call or email between the team to exchange these ideas calms the mind.

The food is all packed up having been planned and assembled by Diane Johnson a nutritionist, and her husband Tim. Imagine shopping for five people for 80 days - everything from main meals (all freeze-dried, of course, just add hot water to re-hydrate!) to snacks, sweets, drinks, toilet and kitchen roll. It all needed to be listed, purchased and bagged up. We are taking enough food for 80 days - each day there is just 5kg of food for the crew, consisting of two main meals, a sweet desert, drinks, breakfast and snack bars. Something around 4000 calories per day for the hot sections of the race course (the first and last third approximately) and raising to around 6000 calories for the Southern Ocean. If it's not in the bags when they get loaded on the 6th of January then it's not going round the world, we can't go and shop for something, we can't get something delivered - if it's not onboard we'll manage without it.

Q: What is the weather pattern you expect on departure and outline the weather Musandam will experience round the world?
For now it's still a bit too early to tell what the exact weather will be like for our departure - but we will get an accurate picture within a few days of the start. But the northern part of the Indian Ocean is notorious for it's light airs - the Volvo Ocean Race fleet passed somewhere similar four weeks ago, and one of their powerful boats got stuck for two days - managing just 60 kilometres in one 24-hour period -something we'll be looking to avoid if possible! Heading down the Indian Ocean our first major challenge is where to cross the famous Doldrums - a wide band of light airs where Trade Winds from the northern hemisphere meet with those from the southern hemisphere - a vast melting pot of opposing winds that cancel each other out - and towering thunder storm clouds that move masses of air in each squall - we'll have to be fast to react to those, and change sails quickly.

Once through we are off south - via a blocking high pressure system that sits to the south west of Australia - its exact location changes often. Forecasts will show tempting holes to pass through only to close again with a new forecast update (every 6 hours there is a new forecast). This will be the final hurdle before the great expanse of the Southern Ocean - where waves circle the globe unopposed by land, they gather speed and size from each storm. Eight and 10 metre high waves are not uncommon! The Vend?e Globe fleet (solo round the world racers) are there right now, and this ocean has claimed a few casualties - two dismastings, capsizes and a broken leg give a chilling reminder that nothing can be taken for granted. Solo sailing in the Southern Ocean is a different sport though and although it will be a real challenge for Musandam and us - the freezing temperatures, rain, snow and huge waves - we will have each other so share our concerns and fears. Five crew, all reliant on each other, is such a different prospect from tackling this ocean single-handed. When we see our first albatross, our first really big wave or our first big storm we'll share it together knowing we are not alone, we have each other.

For anyone that has grown up sailing, the Southern Ocean is a pinnacle, though to be there day after day will be wearing. Meeting up with some old sailing friends during the last few days they all agreed they'd love to go there for an afternoon's blast - spending 4 or 5 hours surfing down the big waves, but not more after 4 hours, then they would be cold, a bit damp, and ready for a hot drink, good food, and a comfortable bed! We will have this day after day for something like 30 days. It really is the ultimate challenge.

To find out more about the trimaran Musandam, log on to the Oman Sail website at www.omansail.comand read below the latest news from crew member Charles Darbyshire about their departure plans and some of the weather they expect to encounter en route.