Dubai: ‘Zil Zal’, owned by the F3 Team and skippered by Hassan Abdullah Al Marzouqi won the opening heat of the 22ft Dubai Traditional Dhow Sailing Race held off the Mina Seyahi waters of the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC), on Saturday.
Using the extensive Jumeirah coastline, Zil Zal was quick to get the perfect wind in its sail and power its way unchallenged to the finish line set up at the foot of the iconic Burj Al Arab.
With no one to challenege Zil Zal, what remained was the fight for the second spot. It was ‘Al Shaqi’, owned by Hamdan Saeed Yaber and skippered by Khalaf Butti Mussabah Al Ghashaish who managed to hold off all others and end in second, while the Jaber Mohammad Jaber Al Hammadi-owned ‘Al Ayay’ came in third to complete the podium set outside the DIMC premises.
Khalid Bin Dasmal, in-charge of sailing at the DIMC and member of the board of directors was joined by Mohammad Saif Al Marri, Director, Race Management, Ahmad Al Suwaidi and Saeed Al Muhairi at the presentation of trophies to the top three.
Bin Dasmal was all praise for the skill shown by ‘Zil Zal’ skipper in bringing the dhow home despite some tricky wind conditions. “He [Al Marzouqi] displayed a lot of tact and vision to detect the right path of the wind, and once he had found it, more than half his task had been accomplished,” Bin Dasmal said.
“The first heat is always tricky as teams are trying to put their strategies in place for the rest of the season. We are going to enjoy a lovely season of dhow sailing,” he added.
