Streamed live on Dec 12, 2014
Live from the shores of the Arabian Gulf comes the final Xcats pole position of the year. 15 teams looking to clock the best time and secure a good start in tomorrow GP final
http://youtu.be/NEHO5ebM3LI
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Streamed live on Dec 12, 2014
Live from the shores of the Arabian Gulf comes the final Xcats pole position of the year. 15 teams looking to clock the best time and secure a good start in tomorrow GP final
http://youtu.be/NEHO5ebM3LI
Fazza complete the perfect season with final-round victory
13 December 2014, Dubai – The overall Series may have already been secured, and they may have been testing new engines, but the Fazza pair of Arif Al Zaffain and Nadir bin Hendi simply couldn’t resist that top step of the podium at the Emirates Airline XCAT GP this afternoon.
Because they were testing the soon-to-be-introduced four-stroke engines, it had been decided that Fazza would not earn any points for this race, meaning the final showdown was for the remaining podium places in the overall 2014 UIM Skydive Dubai XCAT World Series.
But Al Zaffain and Bin Hendi overcame some earlier electrical problems (which saw them starting the race well down after finishing the race for Emaar Pole Position in seventh place) to storm to the front of the pack once again to claim top honours.
They had to stave off a tough challenge from fellow Victory Team members, Dubai 7 (Salem Al Adidi and Jay Price) though, who also had an impressive start from lower down the order to challenge for a top spot straight away, going head to head with Fazza at one stage, but eventually settling for second place.
The impressive fight from Al Adidi and Price saw them securing second place in the Series overall ahead of the T-Bone Station team of Luca Fendi and Giovanni Carpitalla who finished sixth in today’s race.
Meanwhile, completing the podium for today’s Emirates Airline XCAT GP was the Italian Videx team of Alfredo Amato and Marco Pennesi – their first top-three performance of the season.
“It was very good – especially with trying the new engines this weekend to see if we could complete the race and thank God we did,” said Bin Hendi afterwards. “This is a new start for these new engines and we are very happy to have won this race here.”
As for the chances of completing a clean sweep of all the races in the 2015 Series, Bin Hendi reckoned: “We are going to try our best. We always work hard for this so let’s see what happens.”
Price was, meanwhile, thrilled with his and Al Adidi’s performance. “It started off a little rough on testing and qualifying but we figured out the problems and I think from the Speed Cat Run yesterday we really were running very well.
“Our biggest concern was the start. Starting in eighth is not a good spot. But we fought through that and probably came out in a good fifth or sixth position in the first lap. We had to really fly the boat to make sure we got the acceleration on the other drivers and we picked them off one by one.
“For me this is the most exciting racing. You don’t just win from the front – you fight from the back and earn every position. This is for me the ultimate in racing – when you really have to battle and push to the limit. I mean we lost control of the boat in the air quite a few times but we couldn’t back off,” added Price.
Also celebrating a great performance for the day were the Mouawad team of Joakim Kumlin and Gary Ballough who managed a fourth place finish in today’s Emirates Airline XCAT GP. Owner and manager Omar Danial was thrilled with fourth spot – and sixth overall in the Series after a somewhat-troubled season.
Also doing well was one of the wild card entries from Team Abu Dhabi (boat 5 – Rashid Al Tayer and Faleh Al Mansoori), who managed to finish the race in ninth and who, along with boat 4, are looking to join the Series from the start in 2015.
Driving a powerboat on calm waters can be overwhelming
In modern times, boats are usually considered vehicles of luxury, of rest and relaxation and blissful, unperturbed peace.
You fish on a boat. You sunbathe. Maybe you cruise and visit exotic locales.
You do not, generally, at any point think you are going to flip over. XCAT powerboats are not much like other boats.
This reporter arrived at the Dubai International Marine Club on Thursday expecting a leisurely press-event ride on an XCAT – which is short for “extreme catamaran – ahead of the weekend’s XCAT World Series leg.
“Extreme” or otherwise, what really can a boat do? A boat is never going to be as fast as a car nor turn as sharply.
So, yes, bring on the XCAT. A boat is a boat is a boat.
Except when that boat is designed to perform like a Formula One race car in water.
And then you are told that, actually, you will be riding in that boat – behind the wheel.
An XCAT powerboat requires co-drivers, and the easier half of responsibilities is steering, even for a completely untrained and unqualified novice.
When we heard we would be driving, the assumption was that some sort of training boat with a dummy system would be used to prepare us for the real thing.
Oh, no. They put us behind the real wheel of one of those real monsters, and some sort of record for “gripping the wheel absurdly tight” might have been set.
This is a terrifying proposition to process in the 90 seconds it takes to get strapped into the boat. It does not get less terrifying when things get started.
The left-hand man, with the wheel on the right side of the boat, was a Norwegian newcomer to the circuit named Pal Virik Nilsen.
He was in charge of how fast the boat would go, controlling the throttle and all the other little switches and dials that he tried to explain as questions welled up.
Questions like: “Are you people crazy? I’m going to steer? This totally real and significant responsibility you’re just going to give to me?”
For those who have played an arcade games with a fake steering wheel, driving an XCAT is not much different. Physically, it is actually quite easy. Just grab the wheel with both hands and move it as you please.
Mentally, though, it is a bit hard to get around the notion of all the items a driver might run into. And the sinking sensation that too sharp a turn will flip the boat and the occupants could drown.
Pure horror. That is a feeling I’ve been seized by wonderfully few times in my life. It is what gripped me as Pal finally put the XCAT into drive and had us whizzing out across the water off Barasti Beach, prompting these thoughts: “There’s supposed to be a professional doing this. I’m just supposed to be riding in this death trap.”
You know when you are riding in a dinghy and a wake from a bigger boat nearby catches your boat and your stomach jumps a little bit?
An XCAT takes even little wakes and flies into the air on them every three seconds.
See a buoy? Well you better steer around it, because you are suddenly the one in charge of not crashing straight into it.
Don’t steer too sharp, though. Remember, this a powerboat travelling at high speeds and you’re the idiot these lunatics have entrusted with that job.
“Too much,” Pal said, laughing, as a buoy was veered around. Too much.
How does one, exactly, get out of this boat if it flips?
After a couple minutes you start to settle in. Pal is pointing out where to go, even though the Burj Al Arab is right there in the distance and a person can barely even make it out because his sunglasses are steaming up and the window is a bit grimy.
“Come on. Relax. This dude wouldn’t let me kill us.”
Eventually, against all odds, it begins to be fun. A novice get an appreciation for the insane amount of teamwork this sport must take as the pro helps what is, now, a frightened child to make it around the course. Another appreciation? For the physical endurance involved; it’s crazy hot in here.
There’s more than a bit of a “Holy, cow” element to the experience.
We come back into the port. Pal was smiling – no big deal to this guy. “Man,” is about what all that can be mustered in reply. “That? That was slow,” says a highly amused Pal.
Oh.
A boat is a boat is a boat. That was a stupid thing to think.
jraymond@thenational.ae
http://www.thenational.ae/sport/othe...e-overwhelming
Dubai boats dominate on home waters at the Emirates Airline XCAT Grand Prix
Gulf News
18 hours ago
Fazza and Dubai 7 clinch top two spotsDubai claimed the top two positions in the race and the overall standings at the Emirates Airline XCAT Grand Prix, the fifth and final round of the 2014 UIM Skydive Dubai XCAT World Series at the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC), on Saturday.
The Fazza duo of Arif Al Zafei'n and Nader Bin Hindi were already crowned world champions at the end of the fourth round in Stresa, Italy. The Dubai duo preferred to test the new engines here with the 2015 season in mind, despite knowing they would not be in a position to earn any further points.
The thirst to excel continued as they kept off a tough challenge from fellow Victory Team mates Salem Al Adidi and Jay Price in Dubai 7 to complete a rare seasonal dominance with a fifth straight win in as many races for yet another world crown.
After pushing Fazza till the end, Dubai 7 eventually settled for second place in the race and the overall second for the season as well, while the Italian pair of Alfredo Amato and Marco Pennesi in their boat Videx, took their first podium of the season.
Needing to finish ahead of Dubai 7 to displace the local team in the overall standings, Friday's Pole Position winners completed the podium, but could do nothing to stop the T-Bone Station pair of Luca Fendi and Giovanni Carpitella from taking third place in the overall world rankings.
Though not in the points, Bin Hindi was pleased with their dominance during the 2014 season. "It was very good, especially with trying the new engines to see if we could complete the race and thank God we did," Bin Hindi said.
"This is a fresh start for these new four-stroke engines and we are very happy we had the opportunity to try these out well in advance," he added.
Meanwhile former F1 world champion Price was thrilled with the manner in which Dubai 7 handled their second place behind Fazza. "For me this is the most exciting racing. You don't just win from the front. You fight from the back and earn every position. This is for me the ultimate in racing when you really have to battle and push to the limit," Price said.
Also celebrating a great performance was the Mouawad team of Joakim Kumlin and Gary Ballough who managed a fourth place and sixth overall after a somewhat troubled season.
Meanwhile, the 2015 UIM Skydive Dubai XCAT World Series is set to kick off in February with their first stop in the UAE, with several exciting developments in store including the mandatory use of the new, environmentally-friendly, four-stroke engines for all boats.
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/dub...062240857.html
Leading Up To The Race
The Fazza team will be testing out the newly developed, reliable 350Hp XCAT Mercury four stroke engines (which will be adopted for the 2015 season) during the race and are looking forward to a new challenge. And even though they are guaranteed the overall 2014 Series title, thanks to the massive lead they have notched up on the points table, Al Zaffain and Bin Hendi have lost none of their motivation to reach the top of the podium once again.
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/w...catverado3.jpg
That's a cool vid.