If you were wondering what has happened to the 2022 UIM XCAT World Championship since the boats last raced in Fujairah back in March – We might have the answer.
After the first two rounds in the UAE, the boats were subsequently shipped to Europe with the prospect of racing at an event to be held in Italy in the summer.
That race never took place and since then the XCAT containers have been sitting in an Italian port accumulating storage charges.
PRW asked UIM Secretary General Thomas Kurth to understand where things go from here:
The 2022 calendar of the UIM XCAT World Championship was going to consist of four Rounds, the first one in Fujairah in March 2022, two Rounds in Italy in autumn 2022 (Sardinia and Sicily) and the final Round in Dubai in December 2022.
In order to have the XCAT boats and all Racing equipment in time in Europe for the two Rounds in Sardinia and Sicily, the containers with the boats and race material were shipped from the Emirates, where they were stored after the first Round, to Genova (Italy) By the time the containers arrived in Genova, the confirmation of one of the first of the two Italian Rounds in Sardinia was delayed by the regional government against all logic and the second round in Sicily was postponed to 2023, contrary to the formal commitment given earlier before. As a result of these developments, the funding of these two events was withheld until further notice, including the part that had to cover the shipping costs of the containers and racing equipment to Italy.
We still await an imminent decision from the administration of the Government of the Sardinia Region to release said funds and to set a new date for the Race in what remains of 2022 or early 2023, but have found a solution to transfer the containers with the XCAT Boats and Racing equipment to a temporary storage facility in Italy in the meantime. There is no risk whatsoever for the boats and material of the Teams, and we have agreed with them to join forces in putting together an appealing racing calendar for the 2023 season.
