Dubai Traditional 60ft Dhow Sailing Championships
by Sharon Allison 21 Feb 2010 10:26 GMT
20 February 2010
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The crew of Barraq helmed by Rashid Mohd. Rashid Al Rumaithi started chanting before they crossed the finish line as winners in the first heat of the Dubai Traditional 60ft Dhow Sailing Championships that ended beneath the Burj Al Arab. The chanting trend continued as Al Wasef with skipper Mohammed Hamad Al Ghashaish and his crew closed in taking second place. High spirits took over after a painfully slow start turned in to a wild race as the fleet reached the top of Palm Jumeirah and the wind strengthened making boats furl their second sail and redistribute crew and sand bags (the traditional ballast) as they were over powered. The first heat last month was cancelled due to lack of wind there were fears the same might happen again as the Dubai International Marine Club race committee arrived to set the start in fickle conditions. But the race started with only a small delay and the breeze obliged brilliantly by building steadily as the race progressed and then shifted giving the advantage to the boats at the top end of the course. The first two boats crossed the line in quick succession followed by a steady flow of dhows with Al Iz skippered by Sultan Ahmed Khadem Al Muhairi taking third place.
The winning boat forms part of a dhow sailing dynasty with many family members sailing their own dhows and in this race they worked as a group to ensure a family win. ‘We had four boats in this race and we placed them strategically along the huge start line of seventy-five boats. In the end the wind favoured us as we were further out to sea, we were lucky,’ said the skipper of Burraq. It was a tough race for the crews who spent the second half of the race straining to get their body weight as far over the side of he boat as possible for balance against the strengthening wind and without the trappings of the modern sailing equipment, which the traditional rules prevent, it is not an easy task. The next heat will be the Presidents Cup in Abu Dhabi on March 13th.