New Zealand got their campaign off to a perfect start by winning gold in SailGP’s opening race of the 2024/2025 season in Dubai on Sunday to take the overall lead.
Peter Burling was behind the wheel of the Kiwi boat as they powered their way to an impressive victory over Emirates Great Britain and the USA in the three-boat shoot-out final at the city’s Port Rashid Cruise Terminal-2.
Having won the Emirates Dubai SailGP, the Kiwis are top of the leaderboard after finishing 2-3-5-1-7 in the five fleet races to amass 37 championship points and qualify for the shoot-out.
Emirates GBR finished second overall on 34 points with the US in third on 32 points and Spain and Australia in fourth and fifth.
“It was awesome. It's quite a group, a new team to get into the final this weekend. I think it's one of the hardest things, so to keep your knees in and get the chance to win it all, we're really competitive,” Kiwi driver Burling said.
The New Zealanders got off to a flying start but were pegged back with the lead changing a few times between Great Britain and the US, before the Kiwis cruised to the front at the final marker to cross the finishing line comfortably ahead.
It was a dominant performance by the New Zealanders, who now head for their home race and the second round in the championship series in Auckland on January 18-19.
“Super excited to get home. Auckland, the buzz in town is already growing. The grandstand that is about to get built is just amazing,” Burling said of the next round.
“Any Kiwis that haven't bought tickets yet, it's going to be an absolutely amazing weekend. You'll regret it if you don't get on.
“Getting to Auckland, it's going to be a big bash in Auckland. It's going to be like this, a tight venue, really close to kind of reclaimed land.
“It has a huge grandstand, the render looks absolutely amazing, so it's going to be pretty cool to have over 10,000 Kiwis cheering us on each day.
“To win the opening race of the new calendar is a great start indeed, but 13 more events from here, sorry, we're looking forward to trying to continue to build.”
Missing the cut to make it to the final were the defending champions Spain and the three-time champions Australia, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the overall standings.
The Australians rued missed opportunities but insisted they can take a lot of positives from their opening race campaign.
“We had four races in the top five and then the last race, bad start and just couldn't find a way through. We had a bad race and missed out on the count back,” the Aussie driver Tom Slingsby said.
“It was tough, it was just there, like the boats, I think we lost the Italians by boat length and we knew if we beat them we would have got through, but yeah, it was brutal.
“We were always able to sail through the fleet and sail really well and then on that last race we just couldn't find clear air everywhere we went. We got caught up in little battles and that's on me, honestly.
“I gotta position the boat better and I take the brunt of the bad start as well. I just didn't see the Kiwis coming in on the foil and by the time we reacted it was too late. The fleet is so condensed, obviously it's the first event of the season.
“We are a bit of a new change to the team and a few things changing but we sound really well. It's easy to focus on the bad race but we've got to focus on the positives and we got through Dubai and we would have liked to have done better, but it's okay.”
The 14-race championship concludes in Abu Dhabi in November 2025.
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
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Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
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Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
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