Sir Bu Naair Traditional Dhow Sailing Race - The revival of the Emirate’s Heritage
The highlight of this year’s 60ft traditional Dhow sailing races will take place with the hosting of Sir Bu Naair Traditional Dhow Sailing Race – 60ft, on Saturday 26th May 2007.
The spectacle of racing Dhows, with their unfurled sails carries the heritage of Arabic traditions, dating back to the period when Dubai was known for the pearl merchants. Sir Bu Naair Island represents a strategic point for the sailors, as it was used as a stopover for resting for the pearl diving boats, when they were en route back to Dubai from their long trips at sea. Boats used the island to rest their crew, to clean and arrange the display of their pearls, ready for trading before their arrival back to Dubai.
The Emirates pearl trade disappeared and sailing boats were deserted. There were once around 400 words from the Arabic language that belonged exclusively to the sailor’s dialect and are know only to seamen. These words have gradually disappeared from the local spoken language. It was in an effort to revive this tradition that H.H Sheikh Hamdam Bin Rashid Al Maktoum decided to host the first race in 1991.
The Dubai International Marine Club emerged and started to play its role in safekeeping the roots of the previous generations and organized the first race on 23rd May 1991. That year, saw a fantastic fleet of some 53 Dhows, in a range of various lengths and designs. The vessels were not all necessarily designed for a long distance race, but it certainly represented the beginning of a new era for the Dhow Sailing activities in the Emirates.
This is how the ‘Sir Bu Naair’ race first found its origin, in this traditional route named ‘Al Qaffal’, which means the ‘journey back home’, undertaken in the past by the traditional pearl boats. This same route will be sailed on Saturday for the 17th consecutive year. Each year it attracts more participants and more public interest.
This year, the 49 NM long distance race will start from Sir Bu Naair Island and finish at Mina Seyahi.
The 90 x registered boats will hoist their sails at 07:30 am promptly on Saturday 26th May from Sir Bu Naair and are expected to finish by mid-late afternoon.
All competitors look forward to this annual traditional event with all its true and rich heritage that it carries.
More Information:
Patrick Francis, Press Officer, DIMC
P.O.Box 24883, Dubai, UAE
Contact: +971 4 399 5777
web: http://dimc-uae.com
mail: pressofficerdimc@gmail.com