DUBAI // Idyllic sailing conditions of eight to 12 knots greeted the opening day of the 2010 RC44 Championship Tour at Dubai International Marine Club yesterday, as the series' nine identical RC44 vessels went head-to-head in the ultra-competitive match race format.
The hearty, shamal-aided offshore winds were a far cry from the flimsy blusters which blighted the RC44s when they last docked in the Emirates, for November's 2009 season finale.
After five and half hours of intense nautical battles, Team Sea Dubai returned to the DIMC jetty on top having triumphed in all five of its first-day flights, or one on one races. Having seen his crew lay down an early claim for the match race trophy by ending the day undefeated, the skipper Markus Wieser was buoyant.
"In the match races you have to start very strongly and then play the shifts well. If you start ahead, normally you stay ahead," smiled Wieser, who discounted the role home advantage had played. "All the guys have sailed here in the past and the wind was not normal out there. It usually comes from the right-side at about 320 degrees, but it was around 260 degrees today [Monday]."
Despite a perfect first day's sailing, Sea Dubai was not the only boat to finish the session unbeaten. Team Artemis, skippered by one of the world's premier helmsmen, Terry Hutchinson - the 2008 Med & World TP52 champion - won all four of its flights.
Wieser and Hutchinson will face-off today in an intriguing flight which could well decide the final match race positions.
Hutchinson's remarkable RC44 debut - he has replaced Dean Barker on the Swedish-owned Artemis boat - left the American beaming.
"That was our first day of racing and we're a little tired, but relieved to have got through the day," he said. "You can lose the championship in these early-season battles, but you can't win it, so I'm happy to have not made any mistakes. It's some pretty big shoes we're stepping in to. It's early days, but for day one it has been better than I anticipated."
A measure of the fierce RC44 competition - the series is viewed as one of the key training grounds for America's Cup racing - was evident in yesterday's racing statistics: no boat finished the session without winning a flight.
Last year's champion, No Way Back, lost three flights - one to Sea Dubai - but won its final two, while the BMW Oracle Racing boat, without the owner, Larry Ellison, and the legendary helmsman, Russell Coutts, because of their America's Cup commitments, won and lost a brace.
"There is no looking back at last season, it is a new year and everyone starts with a clean slate," said Pieter Heerema, the No Way Back owner.
"We will have to fight really hard this year because there are a lot of strong teams out there."
The regatta's match race action resumes at 11am today. Following Wednesday's rest-day, three consecutive days of fleet races - where the boat owners must steer the RC44s - are scheduled from Thursday.
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SPECS
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
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In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Info
What: 11th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship
When: December 27-29, 2018
Confirmed: men: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Hyeon Chung, Karen Khachanov; women: Venus Williams
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae, Virgin megastores or call 800 86 823
Origin
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
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COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
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● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
