After two days of racing on Lake Maggiore in Stresa, Italy, the Dubai Police crew of Nadir bin Hendi and Arif Saif Al-Zafeen secured its fourth consecutive Union International Motonautique XCAT World Championship victory of the season by a margin of 7.5 seconds on Sunday. The duo followed up its decisive start-to-finish victory on Saturday with another dominant performance earlier today.

The Dubai Police teammates Nadir bin Hendi and Arif Saif Al-Zafeen won their fourth straight XCAT race on Sunday in Italy. Photos courtesy XCAT World Championship.

Team Abu Dhabi 4, crewed by American racer Shaun Torrente and Emirati Faleh Al-Mansoori, stormed into third place overall in the XCAT World Championship standings after claiming the runner-up position in both of the Stresa Grand Prix of Italy races.

“Yesterday was a great day for us—we knew this weekend that we had the first or second best boat,” Torrente said. “It was a disappointing qualifying that set us back on Friday when it was cut way short. We had a great start in the first race. Faleh did a great job driving and we had a clean race. We made a few minor changes this morning to give us a chance to climb one more spot. But the podium and the points is what we needed again today and we have put ourselves right into contention to challenge for the rest of the season.”

With the two victories, the Dubai-based crew now holds a championship lead of 48 points over the 222 Offshore crew of Italian driver Giovanni Carpitella and his Australian throttleman Darren Nicholson. They finished third for the second day running behind the two United Arab Emirates-based boats.

Team Abu Dhabi 4 teammates Shaun Torrente and Faleh Al Mansoori took second place in both races in Italy this weekend.

Team Abu Dhabi 5’s Rashed Al-Tayer and Majed Al-Mansoori guided their American-built MTI boat to the checkered flag in sixth position—they finished fifth in Saturday’s race—and slipped to fifth in the championship standings. Team Australia’s Blue Roo crew of Pål-Virik Nilsen and Jan Trygve Braaten finished fourth on Sunday and Yacht Club Como’s Italian pairing of Serafino Barlesi and Alessandro Barone were fifth.

The Stresa Grand Prix of Italy was the only European leg of the XCAT World Championship, which now moves to China with four races, the first of which is set for Aug. 31-Sept. 3.

Related stories
Dubai Police Seals Second XCAT Victory Of Weekend