XCAT Fujairah Grand Prix 2026: Everything You Need to Know

The UIM XCAT World Championship opens its 2026 season at the Fujairah Grand Prix, from Friday December 4 to Sunday December 6, at Fujairah International Marine Club on the Corniche in Fujairah, UAE. It is Round 1 of a two-round championship, with Dubai following on December 11 to 13.

The race was first scheduled for April 17-19 and postponed on March 12, and Fujairah now starts a season cut down to two December rounds. Victory Team are the reigning champions, having clinched the 2025 title at Dubai Race 1 last December.

What the Weekend Involves

XCAT boats race with two drivers on board, and each round carries two races and two pole position sessions. Pole Position (Q1) is on Friday afternoon and Race 1 on Saturday. Pole Position (Q2) and Race 2 are both on Sunday. Trophies for first to third place are awarded for each of the four.

Every on-water session starts behind the Pace Cat, XCAT’s official start boat, which is also used for restarts after an incident. It carries the Start Marshal and Flag Marshal, and has four seats beside the driver for marshals, television crew and photographers.

The programme leaves the pole position procedure and the race format to the Drivers’ Briefing on Thursday December 3. The course in it is marked provisional.

Race Course

The provisional course gives a race lap of 3.66 nautical miles, shown in red, and a long lap of 4.22 nautical miles in yellow, which the programme also labels the penalty lap. The start lap is 4.60 nautical miles.

The full race distance is 56.96 nautical miles: the start lap, 12 race laps and two long laps. The 70 per cent distance is set at 38.10 nautical miles: the start lap, eight race laps and one long lap.

Event Timetable

The timetable is provisional, and the Race Committee reserves the right to change the programme. All times are local Gulf Standard Time (GST, UTC+4). The UAE does not change its clocks. The “Your time” column converts automatically to your device’s time zone.

Venue and Practical Information

The Fujairah Grand Prix is organised by Fujairah International Marine Club (FIMC) under the aegis of the UIM, at its base on East 99, Corniche Street, near the Fortune Royal Hotel. The event director is Ahmed Ebraheim Mohamed. The official event hotel is the four-star Al Bahar, next to the club, which also hosts the Drivers’ Briefing.

The paddock opens on Wednesday December 2 at 8am for teams to reach their boats and workshops. Boats must be in the paddock by 3pm on Thursday December 3, or the team faces a USD 500 fine and possible loss of eligibility, and the paddock closes on Monday December 7 at noon.

The advance programme gives no entry list, spectator admission or parking details, or broadcast arrangements.

Rules, Fuel and Elections

The Driver Representative and Team Owner Representative elections take place at the Drivers’ Briefing on Thursday December 3, with the UIM Commissioner present. Candidates must have taken part actively in XCAT for at least two complete seasons and declare their interest by email by November 29. If nobody applies, the vote is held among all eligible registered drivers present.

Drivers must wear buoyancy aids at all times in the water, and head and neck restraints with the quick release system during all official on-water sessions. Chin guard and spin-type helmets, the kind with a fixed microphone boom, are prohibited, and a driver wearing one will not be allowed to take part.

The programme introduces an Environmental Marshal, appointed by the local organising committee, who reports breaches to the Race Director. A team that breaks the environmental rules, for example by leaving waste in the paddock, is fined USD 500.

Fuel must be 98 octane and can no longer be stored in containers at the race site. Teams pay the filling station directly, at a price expected to fall between AED 4.00 and AED 5.00 a litre ($1.09 to $1.36 at the dirham’s fixed rate to the dollar), with the final price announced at the beginning of December.