Heavy rains impact UAE sport

Joy Chakravarty 04:58 10/03/2016
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  • Inclement: Dubai weather.

    The unseasonal thunderstorms that hit the UAE on Wednesday wreaked havoc on normal life across various emirates, and it was no surprise that several sport events were also affected.

    The races in the ASAF Asian Sailing Championship were abandoned for the day in Abu Dhabi, while training flights were cancelled in the Red Bull Air Race.

    According to the Met Office, more than 240mm of rain fell in parts of UAE, while strong winds of up to 130kmph were recorded in Abu Dhabi.

    Almost all golf courses in the UAE were shut, which is normal when there is lightning in the area. However, most courses are expected to remain shut on Thursday as well as the heavy rains inundated fairways, flooded the bunkers, and washed the sand on bunker walls.

    There were no Arabian Gulf League matches, and the organizers are not expecting any disruption to Thursday’s schedule (Fujairah v  Al Wahda and Al Nasr v Al Jazira), even though the Met Office has warned of the unstable weather conditions to continue.

    The Race Committee at the Asian Sailing Championship postponed racing till 1200 noon on Thursday.

    They organizers reported that the severity of the storm, with wind speeds in excess of 40 knots around 11:15 am, resulted in damage to a number of boats. The competitors and coaches spent the day assessing the damage and getting ready for more racing.

    Red Bull Air Race organizers are confident of hosting the race as per schedule on Friday and Saturday, with the forecast being for normal, fine weather returning to the UAE by then.

    Jim DiMatteo, Red Bull Air Race, Race Director, said in a statement: “Due to the weather conditions, we cancelled all flight operations for this afternoon. We plan to be fully operational tomorrow if the weather is OK. For Friday and Saturday, we anticipate nice weather and expect to have a normal race.”

    The normally calm water of the Corniche saw strong waves hitting the barges, but ultimately unable to move them from their moorings. A few of the 25m-high pylons suffered at the mercy of the conditions causing them to deflate on the floating steel barges.

    Craig Haldane, Director of golf course maintenance at Dubai Golf, said: “I have been doing this job in the Middle East for 15 years and in Dubai for 10, and I will have to say that this is the biggest rain I have seen thus far.

    “When you get this amount of rain in such a short period of time the flooding is pretty severe. Water needs room to move and when things get saturated so quickly, it simply gets too much. Bunkers become large puddles, low lying areas on fairways become large swimming pools and the low lying desert areas add to the water features on course.”

    Haldane, who was adjudged ‘Greenkeeper of the Year’ by the 59Club last week, said the biggest damage most golf courses will face will be with regards to the bunkers, with the walls collapsing and sand washed away, but added that the natural water is always good in the long run.

    “No doubt I will have the inevitable question in the coming days ‘Was it good for the course?’

    Well, too much of a good thing is sometimes not good, but when it comes to fresh water, you take it,” said Haldane.

    “The courses will benefit from a natural flush, it’s like a detox for them! The profiles will be clean from all impurities, most noticeably Sodium and the rain is nature’s best irrigation system by far.”

    Julian Small, Managing Director, Jumeirah Golf Estates, said that while the Earth course will remain closed on Thursday for maintenance, the Fire course will be open for play, depending on the weather conditions.

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