by Tim Boydell & Tom Mallindine

The Dubai Regatta was the first of its type, Two people from 10 different countries where invited to sail as a team in this regatta. The government paid for Tom and Tim to go with a coach; our coach was Tom’s Dad Bryn Mallindine. Unfortunately once we had got there, we were informed that we would not stay in the Meridian because it was full of tourists. This meant that we would stay at ‘The Dubai Park Hotel’ which was just up the road. We were rushed through the airport like VIP’s and we didn’t even have to go through customs.

Once we stepped outside, we where hit by 39°C and was very humid. It was tiring just standing up and we couldn’t even attempt to take our shoes off because the tarmac was more like 50°C.

The first day we met up with some of the other teams and did some training. The sea was 28°C but it seemed really cold compared with the air. The wind was about force 3 with nice waves because the Gulf was only about 20ft deep at tops, which meant the waves where perfect. You could see all the fish and we even saw dolphins, barracudas, stingrays, turtles, tuna, flying fish, jellyfish and even the odd floating fish. The Turtles were living around the launching area. That night we tested the diving board with the other teams from 7pm till 10pm.

The first racing day was light winds and we did team racing in the harbour. The teams where decided by our names being pulled out of a hat. Tom’s team was him, Mohammed KHALIFA (UAE) and Greeske GENRICH (GER) and Tim’s team was Freidrich GEBERT (GER) and Silja LEHTINEN (FIN). Some of the races were really hard and two teams had won all 4 races at the end, namely Tim’s team ‘The victory team’ and The Swedish team ‘Who Cares’. The prize giving for the team racing was in the Meridian Banquet Garden. All the tables where set out with crystal glasses, and silver cutlery. Unfortunately Tim managed to break one of the glasses by smashing it on the table. The Trophy’s for the team racing were massive and I was well chuffed when I got mine. Each day we would have to pull a number out of a hat to choose the boat we would use for the day because not all the boats where the same.

The first day of individual racing was also light winds and the chop was quite nasty. We had three races and The French boy Gache J.Christophe was looking in a very strong position. For race one the positions were: -

1^st · Gache J.Christope FRA 971; 2^nd · Tom Mallindine GBR 4665; 3^rd · Tim Boydell GBR 4789

For race two the positions were: -

1^st · Freidrich Gebert GER 10506; 2^nd · Gache J.Christophe FRA 971; 3^rd · Christopher Lorenz GER 10633. Tom came 6th and Tim came 8^th

Positions for race 3 were: -

1^st · Lauri Lehtinen FIN 237; 2^nd · Christopher Lorenz GER 10633; 3^rd · Freidrich Gebert Ger 10506. Tom came 4^th and Tim 5^th

Day two was also light winds, about 7 knots max. Tom had a Winner Mk10 and I had boat no.3 which wasn’t the best of boats. Earlier that day Bryn tried to gee us up by showing us the Team Trophy. At first we though he was joking that the prize was for the Optimists because it was GIGANTIC. Tom and I were so desperate to get it that Tom even went out and did this.

Race 4: -

1^st · Karin Soderstom SWE 3685; 2^nd · Sandra Sanquist SWE 3; 3^rd · Gache J.Christophe FRA 971. Tom was 8^th and Tim was 9^th

Race 5: -

1^st · Tom Mallindine GBR 4665; 2^nd · Christopher Lornez GER 10633; 3^rd Tim Boydell GBR 4789

Race 6: -

1^st · Tom Mallindine GBR 4665; 2^nd Christopher Lorenz GER 10633; 3^rd · Karin Soderstron SWE 3685. Tim finished 4th

Race 7: -

1^st · Tom Mallindine GBR 4665; 2^nd · Christophere Lorenz GER 10633; 3^rd · Gache J.Christophe FRA 971. Tim was 6^th

Race 8: -

1^st · Tom Mallindine GBR 4665; 2^nd · Johan Barbarin FRA 1036; 3^rd · Christopher Lorenz GER 10633. Tim was 7^th

That night we were invited to have a meal on a cruise up the river in a Dhow specially converted to be used as a restaurant. We were all treated like VIP’s and the waiters were all dressed up in all the proper 1st class kit. It was great fun and we got to meet all the important Arabs who had invited us.

Day 3 was again light winds and about 8knots in a big gust. Tom had pants boats and Tim wasn’t much better. We were still in line for the team prize but it was very close. Tom woke up very nervous about the day’s sailing because there was only 3 points separating him from 2nd place. Tim was close to a position on the podium but he would have to work very hard.

Race 9: -

1^st · Sandra Sanquist SWE 3 ; 2^nd · Christopher Lorenz GER 10633; 3^rd · Tom Mallindine GBR 4665. Tim was 5^th

Race 10: -

1^st · Sandra Sanquist SWE 3; 2^nd · Gache J.christophe FRA 971; 3^rd · Tom Mallindine GBR 4665. Tim was 7^th

Race 11: -

1^st · Tom Mallindine GBR 4665; 2^nd · Karin Soderstron SWE 3685; 3^rd · Silja Lethinen FIN 236. Tim finished 5^th

Race 12: -

1^st · Tom Mallindine GBR 4665; · Johan Barbarin FRA 1036; · Friedrich Gebert GER 10506. Tim Finished 6th

As soon as we got in we had the first prize giving when Tom was awarded 1st place and The National Anthem was played with Tom holding up the British flag. Everyone was really excited and it was great fun. Later that night once we had cleaned all the boats up, we were invited to the formal prize giving and everyone was given something for taking part, even Bryn got a plaque. When Tom went up to give his speech he was really embarrassed and he said "Firstly I would like to Tank". Every one looked at me and laughed because my nickname was ‘Fat Tanker’ or ‘Tank’ for short. Tom gave his British shirt to Mohammed for being in his team and he took it off in front of everyone, which made everyone laugh. Mohammed decided to give Tom his Turban and he put it on him and everyone came up really close to take a photo.

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Last modified: May 12, 2002