Sheikh Hassan confirms February assault at trans-gulf speed record

DOHA (Qatar): His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani has confirmed that he and Qatari racing colleague Abdullah Al-Sulaiti will now attempt to set a new Trans-Gulf speed record for the passage between Abu Dhabi and Qatar in February. The exact timing of the Gulf crossing between Abu Dhabi and Qatar will depend on weather conditions nearer the time, but staff at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) in Doha are currently working to prepare the twin gas turbine-engined Nor-Tech boat, named Qatar Challenger. Sheikh Hassan is currently looking either at the weekend of February 5-6th or 12-13th for the high-speed crossing. Transmission problems thwarted Sheikh Hassan’s attempt to set a new record in 2008 and a hectic schedule of H1 Unlimited Hydroplane and UIM F1 racing at the end of 2009 gave the QMSF little time to prepare Qatar Challenger for the attempt at the end of last year. Global shipping company Peters & May have come on board as a sponsor and have taken responsibility for the shipping and transportation of parts and equipment needed to bring the record attempt to fruition. “It is all systems go with a target date for the end of this month,” said Sheikh Hassan, President of the QMSF. “We have been grateful to Peters & May for their valuable support and both Abdullah and I are looking forward to the challenge immensely.” “We are extremely privileged to be a sponsor of Sheikh Hassan’s record attempt,” said David Holley, managing director of Illinois-based Peters & May, who were also responsible for the shipping of the H1 Unlimited Hydroplanes from the USA to Qatar for last November’s flagship Oryx Cup race in Doha Bay. “Our relationship with Sheikh Hassan and the QMSF has grown substantially over the past few years. We see this as another example of how our pedigree in high performance racing logistics can further increase the exposure of powerboat racing in the Middle East. Sheikh Hassan has also arranged for a representative from Guinness World Records to be on hand to oversee the Trans-Gulf record bid and the world-renowned organisation will register the authenticity of the crossing, which is expected to be around 315km and take approximately two hours.

The Qatar Challenger is based on the streamlined Nor-Tech 50 supercat boat and is powered by a pair of powerful Lycoming T-53 L-13 BA gas turbine engines, which both deliver in the region of 1630hp apiece. The Lycoming T53 engine is a turboshaft unit used in helicopter applications and fixed-wing turbo prop aircraft. The engine was originally designed by a team headed by Anselm Franz – the chief designer of the Junkers Jumo 004 aircraft. The engine has a five-stage axial compressor and a one-stage centrifugal compressor.