Thrilling opening round of XCAT Series in Fujairah on the cards

The opening round of the UIM XCAT World Series is promising to be a thrilling one if the first Official Practice in Fujairah this afternoon is anything to go by.

The top seven boats all recorded fastest laps within four seconds of each other, with two of those boats being new entries – Abu Dhabi Team (Rashed Al Tayer and Faleh Al Mansoori) fourth fastest in 2:38.17 and Gold Coast, Australia (Tom Barry-Cotter and Pal Virik Nilsen) sixth in 2:38.92.

Fastest for the day were defending Series champions Fazza (Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir bin Hendi) who sped around the course in 2:35.04. Their Victory Team teammates, Dubai (Salem Al Adidi and Eisa Al Ali) were hot on their heels with a fastest lap of 2:35.93.

Al Adidi and Al Ali are a new combination in the Dubai boat, and Team Manager Mohammed Al Marri was particularly impressed with their progress.

“For a first time, they did a great job,” he said. “We did a week of practice in Dubai and they did very well.”

Speaking about the addition of four new teams to the Series, Al Marri added: “We are very happy to see all the new teams. This is making us work harder and it’s good to have more competition. We wish them good luck for tomorrow and Friday.”

One of those new teams is, of course, the Gold Coast boat which was unveiled by mayor of Gold Coast City, the honourable Tom Tate, in Fujairah this morning as part of the city’s commitment to hosting the fifth round of the Series in August this year.

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