“Oman Sail has great vision and potential, so it was an easy and natural decision for me to become involved,” says Franck Cammas, who will add his skills and experience to Oman Sail campaigns in 2019. He will also join the race squads during the 2019 season, as Oman Sail looks to build on its successful global sailing programme.
Regarded as one of the highest-profile sailors of his generation, Cammas, 45, has a glowing racing CV which includes victories in the Volvo Ocean Race, Tour de France a la Voile, Transat Jacques Vabre, Route du Rhum and Solitaire du Figaro, as well as six Orma multihull championships, many supported by the French company Groupama. He will coordinate Oman Sail’s activities in France through his company Franck Cammas Racing and skipper a Diam 24 during the season.
Cammas joins regular members of the Oman Sail team, including Ali Al Balushi and Hussein Al Jabri among others, on the Diam project which will feature three campaigns – one an all-female team – culminating in the Tour Voile next July. Racing for the Diam teams kicks off in February with EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour in Oman, which will include a fourth all-Omani squad.
Cammas is straightforward on his ambitions for the Tour Voile: “We will aim high and do everything we can to do well.”
The home I grew up in…
I grew up in Provence, in the south of France, very far from the city. We did not have running water; we had to tap into the borehole and during periods of drought there was no water at all. Like Omanis, I am therefore aware that water is a rare commodity.
When I was a child I wanted to…
I dreamed of being an airline pilot, but sailing came very fast. From the age of 10, I was attracted by the sea. I had seen a film that made me want to…and then I read a lot of books. I read Pen Duick VI’s world tour story. I knew a lot about the sea before I even put my bottom on a boat. We also always went out into the mountains, with the tent, when I was little.
My hero…
If I have to name one, it’s Eric Tabarly. There was no superhero at the time, but I was fascinated by his world tour as well as the stories of explorers. I admired his job. I loved sailing because it is an inexhaustible source of energy. We can go everywhere without setting limits. Tabarly was also a performance lover who beat the English on their court. He had that ‘winning’ side that always pleased me. I met him stealthily on a pontoon. He disembarked from a boat I was boarding, but it was very short.
I dream of…
I dream of doing something that I have not done yet and going even further. I like to discover places, sensations, people. That’s what attracts me. If I am offered to go to Mars, I will go, even if there are significant risks.
What I see when I look in the mirror…
I still see myself as I was when I was 12 years old. I did not change. I want to discover without limits. I think this 12 year old would recognise himself in what I have become. I do not regret what I did. Often, when becoming an adult, we put barriers; I do not think that is my case.
It’s not fashionable but I like…
I like the aesthetic dimension. Fashion goes over me because it goes…it comes but I can be sensitive to human creations such as architecture or design.
You may not know it but I’m quite good at…
I was good at music when I was a teenager. At that time, I was doing more piano and violin than sailing. I do not play anymore, though.
If I have time to myself…
I go to the mountains. I change my environment. I rarely stay in town – I escape.
My house is…
Since I like spending time at home, I want this place to look like me. I have the sea in front and I am far from the city.
My favourite haunt/holiday destination…
It’s always the mountain. It is something about the high altitude. I love the Matterhorn massif, Mont Blanc, and maybe the Himalaya, even though I have never been there.
I will not leave my house without…
My Leatherman. It allows you to do everything!
Things I like about Oman…
It is this mixture between sea and mountain with rather steep reliefs. It is a beautiful natural environment – there is water, the sea, the mountain, the oases… There is something for every taste. And in cities, architecture is steeped in history; it has not been so westernised.
A book that changed me…
Le Tour du monde de Pen Duick VI by Eric Tabarly.
On top of my wish/bucket list is…
Go to Mars! I would also like to go to Antarctica. I have already done a lot of things but it is places like these that attract me a lot. I went to Greenland this summer and I think it has that same magic.
In 10 years’ time, I hope to be…
I hope to be able to do what I’m doing today, with the same level of performance.