XCAT 2026: Fujairah Grand Prix opens the season

The UIM XCAT World Championship will open its 2026 season at the Fujairah Grand Prix, from Friday 4 to Sunday 6 December, at the Fujairah International Marine Club on the Corniche in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. According to Powerboat News, it is Round 1 of a championship now cut to two rounds, with the second in Dubai from 11 to 13 December.

A shortened season

The Fujairah race was first scheduled for 17 to 19 April. It was postponed on 12 March, and the series then announced a provisional calendar of two rounds, both in December. A planned Kuwait round no longer appears on that calendar. Fujairah therefore no longer opens a full season: it kicks off a week before the Dubai finale. Victory Team defends its crown: it clinched the 2025 title at Dubai Race 1 last December.

The weekend format

XCAT boats race with two drivers on board. Each round has two races and two pole position sessions, with trophies for the top three in each of the four.

• Friday 4 December: official practice, then pole position (Q1) in the early afternoon.
• Saturday 5 December: practice, then Race 1.
• Sunday 6 December: practice, pole position (Q2) and Race 2.

Starts are given behind the Pace Cat, the series' official start boat, which is also used for restarts after an incident. Both races start at 11am GMT, which is four hours later on UAE local time (GST, UTC+4). The pole position procedure and the race format will be set out at the drivers' briefing on Thursday 3 December.

The provisional course

The provisional course gives a race lap of 3.66 nautical miles and a long lap of 4.22 nautical miles, also called the penalty lap. The start lap measures 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.

Key points

The programme, course and timetable are provisional, and the Race Committee may change them. The event is organised by the Fujairah International Marine Club under the aegis of the UIM.