Dubai: Victory Team has launched yet another initiative by opening its dedicated marine sports academy for all residents of the UAE.
The Board of Directors, who met at the team headquarters in Jebel Ali earlier this week, decided that the marine sports academy — launched at the beginning of 2019 for Emiratis only — will now be open for anyone who shows a genuine passion for marine sports.
In January, the board of directors headed by Huraiz Bin Huraiz had launched the marine sports academy with a handful of young Emiratis under the tutelage of 10-time jet ski world champion Stephen Dauliach alongside two-time reigning world champion Kevin Reiterer. The aim behind starting such an initiative was to ensure an even stronger presence of top UAE-based drivers and riders on the international stage.
The first two students of the academy — Suhail Rashid Al Tayer and Hamdan Saeed Al Harbi — performed well at the 2019 UAE Aquabike Championship held in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. “The first part of the grass roots development project has shown necessary progress and we felt it is high time to rope in local talent that we already have in the country,” Bin Huraiz told Gulf News.
“The basic idea is to get ready for bigger challenges ahead wherein we have a pool of riders and drivers to choose from in the future. Although so young, both our Emirati riders have shown a lot of development and it will be only a matter of time when they can represent the country n the international while being part of the Victory Team,” he added.
Victory Team made their offshore powerboat racing debut in 1986, but it wasn’t until 1990 that it began to build its own boat. The team debuted as a guest entry during the final two rounds of the Class 1 World Championship in 1992, while taking the top two spots in both races.
Since then, Victory Team has become an international brand while winning an amazing 14 Class 1 World Championships and seven Middle East Championships among others, making them one of the most successful teams in offshore powerboat racing.
