Dubai International Marine Club has confirmed 10 December 2026 as the date for the UIM XCAT World Series Dubai Grand Prix, part of a wider 40-event calendar covering sailing and other watersports alongside powerboat racing that the club unveiled for its 2026/2027 season. Entry is free, and the event is held at Sunset Kite Beach.
The same release confirms Victory Team’s participation across four rounds of the UIM F1H2O World Championship: Shanghai and a further China round in September and October, Jeddah in November, and the Sharjah finale in December.
What the release does not mention is a Grand Prix of the Middle East. F1H2O’s own official calendar lists that round separately, venue still to be announced, scheduled for 11-13 December, distinct from the Road to Sharjah Grand Prix of Sharjah a week later on 18-20 December.
A Date That Does Not Quite Match
There is a second discrepancy worth flagging. DIMC’s own event page places the XCAT Dubai GP on 10 December. XCAT’s official world championship calendar, however, still lists the same round, Round 6 of six, as running 11-13 December.
If the F1H2O Grand Prix of the Middle East goes ahead on its listed dates, it would fall in the same window as XCAT’s own Dubai finale, whichever of the two XCAT dates turns out to be correct. Victory Team races in both series, so a clash would not be a minor scheduling footnote.
A Season XCAT Has Not Yet Started
The uncertainty sits on top of a season that has yet to produce a single race. XCAT’s 2026 opener at Fujairah, originally set for 17-19 April, was postponed on 12 March, against a backdrop of wider Gulf disruption that also delayed the Dubai International Boat Show and forced route and schedule changes across regional aviation.
Statement from the UIM XCAT World Championship, 12 March 2026:
The event is not cancelled, it is simply being moved further down the calendar to guarantee a safe and smooth experience for everyone involved. We are working closely with local committees to finalise the new dates, which will be communicated shortly.
No new date has been announced. XCAT’s official results archive currently shows blank result tables for all six rounds scheduled in 2026, Fujairah, two European rounds still marked TBA, Kuwait, a further Middle East round, and Dubai. As things stand, the series has not staged a race this year.
What This Means
None of this is confirmed as a problem, only as unresolved. The Dubai GP date may simply be updated on XCAT’s own site in due course. The Grand Prix of the Middle East may yet be confirmed at a venue and on dates that avoid any overlap. But three separate points, an unlisted F1H2O round, two different dates for the same XCAT event, and a season with no races run, sit awkwardly next to a press release framed around 40 confirmed events.
John Moore is the editor of Powerboat News, an independent investigative journalism platform recognised by Google News and documented on Grokipedia for comprehensive powerboat racing coverage.
His involvement in powerboat racing began in 1981 when he competed in his first offshore powerboat race. After a career as a Financial Futures broker in the City of London, specialising in UK interest rate markets, he became actively involved in event organisation and powerboat racing journalism.
He served as Event Director for the Cowes–Torquay–Cowes races between 2010 and 2013. In 2016, he launched Powerboat Racing World, a digital platform providing global powerboat racing news and insights. The following year, he co-founded UKOPRA, helping to rejuvenate offshore racing in the United Kingdom. He sold Powerboat Racing World in late 2021 and remained actively involved with UKOPRA until 2025.
In September 2025, he established Powerboat News, returning to independent journalism with a focus on neutral and comprehensive coverage of the sport.
