Arif Al Zaffain and Nader Bin Hendi in ‘Dubai Police’, won the second round of the 2018 UIM XCAT World Championship in Fujairah today.
The pairing who had so much success with the Victory Team are already looking unbeatable this season after 2 straight wins.
Team Australia, (Pal Virik Nilsen and Jan Trygve Braaten) took an impressive second place, after being forced out of the first round yesterday when they were hit by Maritimo. The Norwegian’s carved they way through the fleet and passed New Star (Mikhail Kitashev and Dmitry Vandyshev) on the final lap.
Race 2
The teams started from the positions that they finished race one on Thursday afternoon.
That meant Dubai Police 3 headed 222 Offshore and Swecat Racing into the green flag, with Team Abu Dhabi’s 4 and 5 lining up in fourth and seventh positions.
Damage sustained by Maritimo in a start lap accident in race one kept the Australian crew out of the race that was held over one start lap, 14 normal laps and two long laps.
Action began in calmer conditions but the wind strengthened after around five laps and then Team Abu Dhabi 4 left the fray.
Team Abu Dhabi 4’s Shaun Torrente said:
It was disappointing.
We were actually battling for second on lap six and then took a bit of a flyer, a bit sideways and broke the cowling and the trim.
It was a tough day but we were happy with the boat.
Dubai Police continued to lead from New Star and Team Abu Dhabi 5 through lap 11, after Swecat Racing retired and 222 Offshore began to slow on the subsequent lap.
New Star was the last of the surviving crews to take a second long lap and the Russians maintained second place after lap 13, but Team Australia managed to find a way passed Team Abu Dhabi 5 on the 15th tour of the course and snatched third place.
The flying Norwegian duo then managed to overtake New Star on the last lap to finish second behind Dubai Police.
UIM XCAT racing resumes in late summer with several race meetings in China, although the final calendar and actual venues are still being finalised.
2018 UIM XCAT World Championship – Fujairah Round 2 Results
2018 UIM XCAT World Championship – Standings after Round 2
