The Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) is preparing to launch its new marine sports season for 2024-2025, featuring a variety of races, competitive sports events, and community festivals.
DIMC has scheduled Saturday, 21st September, as the date for the season’s opening race, less than four weeks away. The first event will be the first round of the Dubai Traditional Dhow Sailing Race (22ft).
Mohammed Al Marri, Director of the Sports Department at DIMC, stated that the department is working diligently to ensure the success of the upcoming events through coordination, preparation, and collaboration with key partners, including government departments and national institutions. The targeted participants, comprising of boat owners and captains, have also been informed of key amendments for the new season to familiarize themselves with the changes and apply them during the races.
The Director of the Sports Affairs Department further revealed that the season will commence in September with the club organizing two traditional sporting events. The first is the season-opening Dubai Traditional Dhow Sailing Race (22ft), followed by the Dubai Traditional Dhow Sailing Race (43ft), the oldest and most prestigious category in the United Arab Emirates, bringing together elite captains, owners, and sailors from the seafaring community.
Al Marri added: “The Dubai International Marine Club will continue its efforts to enrich the marine sports arena with many new events in the 2024-2025 season calendar. The club will organize numerous global, international, and regional events throughout the season, which extends until next May.
He emphasized that the club will also persist in its mission to preserve the legacy of our forefathers by organizing a variety of traditional races, including categories for traditional dhow sailing (60ft, 43ft, and 22ft) and a traditional rowing race (30ft). The season will also feature major events such as the 34th edition of the Al Gaffal Race and the 28th edition of the Al Maktoum Cup.
Al Marri explained that Dubai's beaches will host a major global event this year from December 13-15: the Dubai Grand Prix 2024, which will be the closing ceremony of the XCAT World Powerboat Championship. This event will be preceded by a significant regional event in the first half of October, the first regional competition for Modern Sailing for the Special Olympics. At the beginning of 2025, the opening event in the global calendar for the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) will be held in Dubai , the UAE International Aquabike Championship.
