History of the world powerboat champions

The seeds of the Victory Team success story go way back to 1986 when Dubai staged its first powerboat race off the coast of Mina Seyahi.

Back then there were no Lamborghini, Seatek or BMW-powered cats that the Victory Team uses today - all the competitors made do with a mixed bag of boats using a variety of outboard motors.

Today, 12 years on, the Dubai Victory Team is rightly regarded as the best and most successful team in the sport.

Formed three years after that first race in Dubai, the Victory Team has gone from being a small outfit racing outboard rigs to an international operation at the forefront of UIM Classes One and Two racing.

Thanks to the continuing support of the Government of Dubai, the Victory Team has gone from strength to strength. Since making its first official debut as a bona fide competitor in the UIM Class One World Offshore Championship in 1993, they have gone on to win the sport's premier title on no less than five occasions.

The team's finest moment came in 2000 when Khalfan Harib and Ali Nasser not only became the first all-Arab crew to win the Class One title, they also won the Class Two tile as well as the European Class One Championship and the Time Trials crown to complete the first-ever clean sweep of powerboat racing's major trophies.

Competing at the sharp end of powerboat racing has taken the team from Kuwait to Cuba, America to Auckland.

During their travels the team's members and back-up staff act as ambassadors for Dubai and the UAE and help introduce the delights of their homeland to an international audience of millions.
And thanks to the Victory Team – as well as world-ranking events in golf, tennis, rugby and horse-racing – sport has proved to be a successful mouthpiece for spreading the word about Dubai

Future plans are just as impressive as the achievements of the past. Victory Team has taken Class Two competition to another level thanks to the success of Saeed Al Tayer and Mohammed Al Marri in dominating the 2001 UAE Class Two Championship.

In Class One, the team will again be aiming to underline just why the Victory Team is regarded as the finest sporting team to come out of the Middle East by successfully defending the Class One crown they have won for the past two years.