Dubai: Mohammad Rashid Al Rumaithi led Al Adeed to an emphatic victory in the second round of the Dubai Traditional 60ft Dhow Sailing Championships held off the Mina Seyahi waters of the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) on Saturday.
With a lull in the winds, the organizing committee decided to push forward the race to a 1 pm start. By early afternoon winds started building up and this was enough for Al Rumaithi to take early control from the start and get a perfect line on the windward course heading straight towards The Atlantis hotel.
After the turn buoy, Al Rumaithi tacked leeward and the move paid off as his dhow caught a gust that saw him steaming towards the finish line along the DIMC shoreline.
“It was tricky at the start, but somehow I was lucky to get the perfect gust and edge clear of the other dhows,” Al Rumaithi told Gulf News.
“With this race out of the way, we will now start preparing for the big one next month. We are confident we can make an impact by riding on the success of this race,” he added.
The second place, meanwhile, was hotly contested by a handful of dhows including a few past winners. But ultimately it was former champion ‘Ghazi’ – owned by Mohammad Ahmad Jaber and skippered by Ahmad Saeed Al Rumaithi – who managed to end second best.
‘Za’abeel’, owned by F3 and skippered by Mohammad Hamad Al Ghashaish, was placed third, while Obaid Saeed Al Tayer skippered another past winner ‘Qaffay’ – owned by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman, Dubai Sports Council (DSC), was in fourth position.
The Hamdan Saeed Jaber-owned ‘Hamas’, skippered by Marwan Abdullah Mohammad Al Marzouqi, completed the top-five placings in the race that is traditionally meant to be a dress rehearsal for the season-ending ‘Al Gaffal’ dhow sailing race from Sir Bu Na’air island to Dubai.
Among other notable finishers from the fleet of 80 participating dhows was former champion ‘Shemardal’, owned and skippered by Sultan Saeed Hareb in eighth place and ‘Al Hadhay’, owned by Shaikh Hamdan and skippered by Saeed Mohammad Saeed Al Tayer. The 26th edition of the annual Sir Bu Na’air 60ft dhow sailing race will be held on May 21.
