Common platform for powerboating discussed

Dubai: Three of the main international bodies associated with Class One powerboat racing have decided to converge at a common platform in an attempt to give the sport a better direction and verve.

Top officials from the International Offshore Team Association (IOTA) and World Professional Powerboating Association (WPPA) met at the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) last week to work out "a plan of action for the future of the sport".Attending the meeting were Saeed Hareb, the WPPA President along with Shaikh Hassan Bin Jaber Al Thani, the IOTA President, Khalfan Hareb, CEO of Victory Team, Rory McRae, the WPPA board member and race director and Marco Sala and Sid Bensaleh, general secretaries of IOTA and WPPA respectively.

"Such a meeting was necessary for all of us and for the sport. Our sport is feeling the effects of the world economic crisis and we need to come to some sort of common understanding to consolidate the future of the sport worldwide," Saeed Hareb told Gulf News after last Thursday's meeting.

Next up is a meeting on July 9 in Milan, Italy with Rafael Chiulli, President of the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM), the world governing body for watersport.

"If the last meeting was important, the meeting in Milan next week is going to be of even more prominence to all concerned," Saeed Hareb stated.