UAE Yachting
By hosting the 33rd America’s Cup in the Ras al-Khaimah of the United Arab Eremites (UAE), the defender Alinghi team is eager to expose the region to yachting at its highest range. Given the view of the Dubai Traditional 22ft Dhow Sailing Championship this past weekend, there would seem to be quite a distance in that range.
The 22 ft dhow is used to train and introduce youngsters to sailing. Although the design of the boat remains traditional many sailors have opted to purchase sails from modern sail makers in Europe keeping within the guidelines of the UAE Marine Sports Federation.
“We have taken the approach to develop a training boat based on our traditions and we are pleased with the results,” said Saeed Harib, who was competing in the event. “Some of these sailors will go on to race the 43 ft or 60 ft dhows and some will go on to race on our Sea Dubai branded RC44 and race internationally in the RC44 Championship Tour.”
The final Round of the RC44 Championship Tour will be hosted in Dubai International Marine Club in November.
Photographs by Ashraf Al Amra.
posted by Blogger @ 8:54 AM
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3 Comments:
mmm! these dhows look great. How I would just love to rig a basic laser hull with a junk rig, one of these--er-dhow rig? and other types of sails, all with the same square footage, and see how they fare in relation to one another. Would the mast have to be stepped further aft? I'm sure there's a reason it has not been done. But I'd try it; I like swimming.
I think it's great to see how ancient cultures, like this one in the Persian Gulf or like many others around the Mediterranean for instance, still pay tribute to their heritage and promote their classic sailing boats among the youngsters so future generations can still appreciate what their ancestors achieved thousands of years ago.
It's actually very interesting to see the similarities between those rigs and the ones in the Latin sail regattas that you can see in places like northern Africa, Italy or the east coast of Spain to mention just a few.
A very nice way to learn history and understand how all these cultures were linked by the sea traffic centuries ago.
Unfortunately your today's Newsletter tried to be ironic and offensive about it, when made the point that this classic regatta was the local pinnacle of technology on sailing.
I have a huge respect for the USA but sometimes it exports too many examples of narrow minded, history ignorants, un-intellectual and arrogant individuals.
Regards,
Giuseppe
Guilty as charged.
Much like BMW Oracle has spoke loudly of their safety concerns, Alinghi is speaking loudly of thier interest to expose the highest range of yachting to UAE citizens. But given their use of traditional boats, it made me wonder if this would lead to a clash of cultures.
As the UAE is exposed to the progress that has occured in yachting, won't this be at the expense of boats like the dhows?
Will children be eager to sail the dhows when they become aware of the high performance youth boats being sailed in more developed sailing nations?
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