Dubai reveals its pioneering spirit once again



Question: which sporting clubhouse is the only one in the world to feature on a country's currency? It's not Lord's, home to English cricket, not the Campo Argentino de Polo in Buenos Aires, nor even the Colombo Cricket Club in Sri Lanka.

The answer is on the back of a Dh20 note. The Dubai Creek's clubhouse, with its three sails reminiscent of an Arabian dhow, has become a landmark since it was built 16 years ago and now you can look it, then fold it up and put it in your wallet.

I discussed the Creek's past and future over a pleasant lunch of fish at the Aquarium with Mustafa al Hashimi, the club manager of Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club.

"We're at the location where Dubai's history began," he says. By the middle of the 20th century, the Creek was silting up, effectively strangling the port's livelihood.

Sheikh Saeed , the former Ruler of Dubai, and his son Sheikh Rashid, the former Vice President of the UAE and former Ruler of Dubai, sold "Creek bonds" to pay for a survey to see if dredging was an option.

Then a loan was raised with the help of some British government officials living in Kuwait and the city's fortune was made, with boats no longer having to wait for a high tide.

In time the boats moved away to the port of Jebel Ali and one of the region's finest golf course's was built alongside the Creek. Then came the clubhouse, restaurants and gym and the Park Hyatt Dubai Hotel, for my money one of the best hotels in the region. But just as the boats moved away, so were people lured away to other, newer parts of Dubai such as Jumeirah Beach and the Marina.

Now Mr al Hashimi is determined to get them back. "We are trying to create that buzz again," he says. The first event, planned for November 4 to 6, is the Pre-Owned Boat Show. During the boom years, it would have been hard to think of an event less likely in Dubai. Who would want to buy a second-hand boat?

But people are beginning to realise value is sometimes more important than something new and shiny.

Mr al Hashimi is expecting 57 boats ranging from 18 feet to 85ft long to be lined up for sale - all are motor boats, with the exception of one sailing yacht - even though the show's motto is "Sell it, buy it, sail it".

The event will be open from 10am until 10pm, is free to enter and features live music, food stalls and even a kid's zone with remote-control cars.

For those who want to buy a boat, The Finance House will be on hand to lend the money, up to 70 per cent of the purchase price. There will also be an insurance company, along with many retailers willing to help you part with your money.

"I might even buy a boat myself," says Mr al Hashimi.

These are apparently not distressed sellers but people who have outgrown their boats and are looking for something bigger in many cases.

There are even a couple of berths available in the marina, something that was unthinkable a few years ago.

Depending on the size of your vessel, for about Dh60,000 (US$16,336) a year you can berth your boat.

The fee includes water and electricity, access to the gym and pool and even discounts in the bars and restaurants.

"People forgot we existed," says Mr al Hashimi. "We were a hidden gem. What we want to do is show that we are not a rough diamond anymore."

That evening I attended a nine-hole event at the Creek course. Among the floodlit holes groups of figures fired wedges and nine irons at a choice of two pins on the green. Two?

"You can choose which flag to go for," explained Jim Wheat, the commercial and business development manager at Dubai Golf. "The black ones are in a harder position but you must attack at least three of them in the nine holes."

I won't mention how our team got on - pretty appallingly actually - but it was good fun and most of the other players seemed to be enjoying themselves.

This was the first event of a league that will run for the next few months, with the winning teams from the Creek battling it out against the winners from Emirates Golf Club in May next year. (There are still places available; call Jim and he'll fix it.)

It is this sort of innovation - wacky golf tournaments and second-hand boat shows - that typifies the spirit of Dubai.

It is why when the motley assembly of journalists and editors turned up from Britain a year or so ago crowing at the decline of Dubai, outdoing each other with metaphor and innuendo, I felt they were wrong.

Yes, the housing bubble had burst. Jobs would be lost and rents would come down. Borrowings would need to be rescheduled.

Dubai was wounded but not finished. It still has the best infrastructure in the Middle East and now it's cheaper but, more importantly, it has the most dynamic population in the region. The same spirit that engineered the dredging of the Creek is now developing different events.

People may not be able to spare a whole day to play golf, so some clever fellow has come up with nine holes of night golf and a weekly league.

New boats may be out of some people's budget but a pre-owned one may not be.

Sometimes second-hand is not second-best.

BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE

Director: Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah

Starring: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Joe Pantoliano

Rating: 3.5/5

Confirmed bouts (more to be added)

Cory Sandhagen v Umar Nurmagomedov
Nick Diaz v Vicente Luque
Michael Chiesa v Tony Ferguson
Deiveson Figueiredo v Marlon Vera
Mackenzie Dern v Loopy Godinez

Tickets for the August 3 Fight Night, held in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, went on sale earlier this month, through www.etihadarena.ae and www.ticketmaster.ae.

Innotech Profile

Date started: 2013

Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari

Based: Muscat, Oman

Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies

Size: 15 full-time employees

Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing 

Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now. 

EMIRATES'S REVISED A350 DEPLOYMENT SCHEDULE

Edinburgh: November 4 (unchanged)

Bahrain: November 15 (from September 15); second daily service from January 1

Kuwait: November 15 (from September 16)

Mumbai: January 1 (from October 27)

Ahmedabad: January 1 (from October 27)

Colombo: January 2 (from January 1)

Muscat: March 1 (from December 1)

Lyon: March 1 (from December 1)

Bologna: March 1 (from December 1)

Source: Emirates

The biog

Hobby: Playing piano and drawing patterns

Best book: Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins

Food of choice: Sushi  

Favourite colour: Orange

In numbers

Number of Chinese tourists coming to UAE in 2017 was... 1.3m

Alibaba’s new ‘Tech Town’  in Dubai is worth... $600m

China’s investment in the MIddle East in 2016 was... $29.5bn

The world’s most valuable start-up in 2018, TikTok, is valued at... $75bn

Boost to the UAE economy of 5G connectivity will be... $269bn 

Company Profile

Company name: Hoopla
Date started: March 2023
Founder: Jacqueline Perrottet
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Investment required: $500,000

Review: Tomb Raider
Dir: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walter Goggins
​​​​​​​two stars

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

Profile

Company: Justmop.com

Date started: December 2015

Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan

Sector: Technology and home services

Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai

Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month

Funding:  The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.