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The Middle East Powerboat race series continues in Dubai with extreme catamaran crews fighting for first place in the second round of the UIM Extreme Catamaran Middle East Championship.
It was a fierce battle at the high seas as power-catamaran crews vied for position in the second round of the Union Internationale Motonautique Extreme Catamaran Middle East Championship in Dubai last Thursday.
The race started a day earlier than planned to avoid expected extreme weather conditions.
But this last minute scheduling shake-up didn't faze the crew of Fazza 3—the winning powerboat.
Driver Arif al Zafeen and throttleman Nadir bin Hendi propelled the Fazza 3 to a round two victory. They completed the Abu Dhabi course in just over 31 minutes.
[...]
Rashid Khalifah al Marri and Salem Fadhel al Hamli driving for Extreme Marine took second place.
The extreme 30-foot catamarans are powered by two 280 horsepower outboard engines. The boats can reach speeds of up to 185 kilometers an hour.
[Mohammed Hareb, Race Director]:
"Since the past three years Xcat has grown very fast and very big especially in this region. We started with almost ten boats in the beginning and right now we are looking at 21 boats today. We always say it's not the number but it's the quality of the racers. When we go back to the names which are available in these races you'll see very big names which have participated in very big competitions, as if it was the world championship or something like that. Today the race is very fierce, very competitive. You'd never predict who is going to come first and who is going to come second."
The Extreme Catamaran Championship is divided into four rounds. They're distributed evenly between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. After the second round race, the next will be in Abu Dhabi on March 19th and the final will be in Dubai on March 25.
NTD News, Dubai
