American yacht Comanche won line honours in Australia’s gruelling Sydney to Hobart Monday, staging a stunning recovery from damage which had nearly ended her race.
The 100-footer was the first to cross the finish line after one of the roughest races in recent years, with more than 30 boats retiring after bad weather struck on Saturday night.
“At 21.58 pm today (2.58pm UAE), Jim Clark and Kristy Hinze-Clark’s Comanche claimed line honours in the 2015 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, completing the 628 nautical mile course in 2 days, 9 hours, 58 minutes and 30 seconds,” organisers said.
Comanche is the first American entry to take line honours since 1998.
The boat had sustained damage in punishing winds off the New South Wales coast on Saturday night which tore into the fleet, shredding sails, damaging rudders and hulls and breaking one yacht’s mast.
A savage southerly blasted the boats off the New South Wales coast on the first night at sea on Saturday, resulting in 32 of the 108 entries retiring from the gruelling 628-nautical mile race down Australia’s east coast.
Among the casualties were two strong contenders for line honours – eight-time fastest finisher Wild Oats XI, forced back to Sydney after her mainsail ripped, and supermaxi Perpetual Loyal with rudder damage.
Comanche hit an unidentified submerged object during the fierce conditions on Saturday night which broke one of the 100-footer’s twin rudders and a daggerboard.
Skipper Ken Read had initially considered retiring but “decided to punch on through” and running repairs were made to the boat.
“I don’t care if we limp over the line. We are going to finish this damned race,” he said.
Comanche finished runner-up for line honours to Wild Oats XI in her first Sydney to Hobart last year, and has been a hot favourite after setting a new 24-hour monohull record of 618.01 nautical miles in July.
Her biggest competition for line honours had been from Rambler which also hit something in the water on Saturday, sustaining similar damage.
“We have no idea what we hit, we couldn’t see it,” the yacht’s navigator Andrew Cape said.
“It might have been marine life or flotsam, but it was a solid hit. It shook the boat.”
Of the 108 boats which started the race in Sydney Harbour on Saturday, 32 have been forced out, including some with shredded sails or hull and steering damage and one with a broken mast.
Sailors returning to Sydney on Sunday spoke of the terrifying conditions, with winds of up to 40 knots.
Julia Cooney, on board Brindabella, told The Australian newspaper that "nothing can prepare you for something like that".
“It was like hitting a wall of water; hitting you in the face, sea water, rain water – you couldn’t tell.
“It was pitch black and the boat was crashing through the waves at 11 knots.”
Australian entry Ragamuffin 100 was revealed as the latest of the supermaxis to be damaged, with the port daggerboard completely sheared off in the race organised by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.
“We’ve had our fair share of problems but we’re still on track to get to Hobart and we haven’t given up,” sailing master David Witt said earlier Monday.
“We broke our port daggerboard; it snapped off. We don’t have one any more.
“We didn’t hit anything, we just dropped off a wave in the fresh stuff and loaded it up and snapped it off.”
The race record – set by Wild Oats XI in 2012 – is one day, 18 hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds.
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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.”
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
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Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
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MATCH INFO
Wales 1 (Bale 45 3')
Croatia 1 (Vlasic 09')
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Fly Etihad or Emirates from the UAE to Moscow from 2,763 return per person return including taxes.
Where to stay
Trips on the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian cost from US$16,995 (Dh62,414) per person, based on two sharing.
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
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THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
