Leading Omani yachtsman Fahad Al Hasni appeared in a French court on Sunday charged with raping a former girlfriend in a hotel room, prosecutors in Le Havre said.

"The instructing judge charged Mr Al Hasni with rape," prosecutor Francois Gosselin told AFP.

The suspect is being held for four days while the defence team prepares its case, he added.

The woman, believed to be aged in her forties and of French nationality, alleged "she was forced to perform a sex act on the yachtsman," explained a police source.

He said she was then violently pushed out of the hotel room, suffering cuts to her face.

Staff at the hotel "found her crying in the corridor...claiming to have suffered a sexual assault," added Gosselin who said she was immediately taken to hospital.

The alleged incident took place on Friday night.

Al Hasni admits that oral sex took place but insists it was consensual, explained Gosselin.

Al Hasni was arrested on Friday and kept in police custody before appearing before a magistrate on Sunday.

Investigators said the woman is an ex-girlfriend of Al Hasni, the first Omani to cross the Atlantic on a trimaran in 2012.

He was in the French port to take part in the Transat Jacques-Vabre race.

The accusations in the normally sedate world of international competitive sailing come as the world of politics and entertainment reel from a raft of lurid sexual allegations in the aftermath of the scandal involving Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.

source: AFP