Dubai, Mina Seyahi April 17th & 18th 2009 - Final heats of the wooden powerboat and the X Cat powerboat will race as part of the Sheikh Majid Watersports Championship organized by Dubai International Marine Club. The same course of 7 laps and 40 nautical miles will decide the final podium places to finish the season. ‘The Championship has been an incredible display of expertise in ability and discipline as well as organization of watersports held both here in Mina Seyahi and in Abu Dhabi and we applaud Sheikh Majid Bin Mohamed for his wisdom in focusing on this championship’ commented Saeed Harib, the Chairman of the WPPA. ‘The combination of traditional and modern watersports is concurrent and an aspect that we are proud of.’
Mohamed Majid Al Room skippering Atlas is ahead of the field with 750 points and will win the season in the wooden powerboat championship making it his 7th overall win. ‘Experience and confidence has paid off, my approach is well-organized and I am very happy with the results’ said Mohamed. The rest of the field is wide open and bound to be highly competitive. The wooden boats weighing 1250kg (2 man) or 1300kg (1 man) are powered by 90hp engines and reach speeds of 95mph.
X Cats have everything to play for amongst the 6 top boats with La Vida Loca from Italy topping the series after 3 races. With 24 boats on the starting line this sport is proving very popular and has a bright future. The fourth round this weekend will be an exciting end to the first year. ‘We have had tremendous positive feedback from the media, organizers and competitors regarding this new class,’ said Sid Bensalah, WPPA, General Secretary. ‘Next season we are expecting a further increase in numbers with 30 boats entering the Championships in 2010 with 7 events in Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah.’
‘Since the inception of this Class we have had enquiries from many countries who are interested in joining and it has quickly become the most talked about powerboat circuit in the world’ added Rory Power, Race Director for WPPA.
28 wooden powerboats will line up at 1100 on Friday April 17th and 24 X Cats at 1500 on Saturday April 18th. Spectators are welcome to watch from Mina Seyahi.
