The Dhow fleet. Image copyright DIMC.
by Sharon Allison
Khalid Mohd. Al Rumaithi and his crew on Musqasas won the final round of the Dubai Traditional 43ft Sailing Dhow Championship organised by Dubai International Marine Club on Saturday. Al Wasef, skippered by Mohamed Hamad Al Ghasheesh was second, followed in third place by Faza’a with Khamis Obeid Thani Al Rumaithi at the helm.
The winning teams - Muqasa at the back, Al Wasef right and Faza'a left. Image copyright DIMC.
The race, which started near Jebel Ali Port in fairly light winds, finished at the Burj Al Arab in a significantly stronger breeze, which had picked up gradually during the hour-long 10-mile race.
‘We were further out to sea than the other leading boats as we came to the top of the Palm,’ said Al Rumaithi of his win. ‘ We had clean air with no other boats around us and were able to get ahead. I’m really happy to win, the wind was quite strong and gusty towards the finish and at one point we were over powered and took on a lot of water. But the crew worked very well to keep the boat speed and we had a great win.’
Muqasa arriving at the Burj Al Arab. Image copyright DIMC.
Mohamed Al Ghasheesh’s second place was his best achievement of the season in this class. ‘I loved the wind today,’ he explained, ‘we were one of the leading boats from the start and had a better angle on the wind towards the finish giving us great momentum as the wind picked up and we got a good result.’
Favourite Al Zeer managed to retain his lead in the overall three round Championship after finishing in twelfth place and Muqasas sneaked in to take second place overall after his win giving him a total over three races of 22 points.
The race has a prize purse of 1.5m dirhams split between the first 50 boats with a top prize of AED 90,000. The prize money sponsored by the Government of Dubai is to encourage the sailors to keep dhow sailing active and for the maintenance of the boats as part of the UAE Heritage programme.
Al Embratore and Al Adeed in front of the Atlantic Palm, Jumeirah. Image copyright DIMC.
The next event to be held at DIMC is the UIM Xcat Middle East Championships on 24th & 25th March.
Results:
Position, Boat Number, Boat Name, Owner, Skipper, Points
1st. 73, Muqasas, Brig. Musabeh Rashid Al Fattan, Khaled Mohd. R. Al Rumaithi, 1
2nd. 127, Al Wasef, Hamad Musabeh Al Ghasheesh, Mohamed Hamad M. Al Ghasheesh, 2
3rd. 133, Faza’a, Khamis Ibeid Thani Al Rumaithi, 3
4th. 12, Atlas, Faraj Bin Buti Al Muhairbi, Ahmed Rashid Al Suwaidi, 4
5th. 17, Izam, Ahmed Rashid Khadim Al Muhairi, 5
Overall Championship Points
1st. 16, Khalifa Rashid Bin Shaheen, Mohammed Rashid Bin Shaheen, 16
2nd. 73, Muqasas, Brig. Musabeh Rashid Al Fattan, Khaled Mohd. R. Al Rumaithi, 21
3rd. 30, Al Adeed, Mohamed Rashid Musabbeh Al Rumaithi, Rashid Mohamed Rashid Musabbeh Al Rumaithi, 22
DIMC
