Dubai International Marine Club Opens Its 2026-27 Season

The Dubai International Marine Club, or DIMC, runs the emirate’s traditional and modern marine calendar, and its new season leans on both. Heritage dhow sailing and traditional rowing sit alongside aquabike, fishing, kitesurf and kayak events, plus rounds of the UIM Formula 1 powerboat World Championship and the UIM XCAT World Series. Dr. Ahmad Saeed Bin Meshar, the club’s chairman, framed the programme as one that keeps the UAE’s rich maritime heritage alive while growing modern marine sport.

What opens the season

The opener is the Al Shindagha race for 22ft traditional sailing dhows, staged on Dubai’s water in mid-September. A 43ft race follows later the same month. Bigger classes come through the season, including the 60ft Al Gaffal dhow race, which returns for its 35th edition in October and its 36th next April. This is a sailing race, wind and crewwork rather than oars, and it sets the tone for a calendar built around the boats that have worked this coast for generations.

Heritage rowing, the season’s other strand

Rowing is where the raw physical work shows. In DIMC’s traditional rowing races each boat carries one captain and eight rowers, and events are held in the Al Jaddaf area near the Wildlife Sanctuary. Crews enter in two categories, an Open category for teams from government and private bodies and a Local category for UAE rowers, and the club hands an Ideal Team Award at the end of the season judged on teamwork, cleanliness, sportsmanship and turning up on schedule. The rowing calendar has also lined up with the Dubai Fitness Challenge and its 30x30 push, a natural on-ramp for anyone curious about the sport. "The Dubai Traditional Rowing Race is one of our most prominent events, attracting participants from various nationalities," said Mohammed Harib, the club’s CEO.

What sea-rowing asks of your body

Rowing looks like an arms game. It is not. According to fitness coaches, a single stroke drives from the legs first, then the core, then the back and arms, so the power comes from the ground up. That makes it a genuine full-body effort that leans hard on the posterior chain, the muscles down the back of your body: hamstrings, glutes, lower back, lats and the muscles between your shoulder blades. Grip and forearm endurance matter too, because eight people have to hold a clean, repeatable pull for the length of a race. And because there is no pounding, rowing stays low-impact and kind to the knees and ankles, which is part of why it scales so well from beginner to competitor.

You do not need a boat to train for any of that. A few targeted patterns carry over almost directly:

1. Leg drive. Squats, the leg press and the rowing machine teach the same push that starts every stroke.
2. Posterior chain. Deadlifts, hip hinges and back rows build the pull.
3. Engine. Steady conditioning work and interval rowing grow the endurance a race demands.
4. Grip and core. Farmer carries, dead hangs and anti-rotation work keep you strong on the last few strokes.

Getting the movement right matters more than going heavy early. If you are new to the pattern, learning the right technique first will protect your back and make every session count, and a few sessions with a coach will fix the small errors a mirror hides.

Ready to build your engine?

You do not have to crew a dhow to train like someone who does. The leg drive, the posterior-chain strength and the steady endurance behind marine sport can all be built in the gym, and a fresh season on the water is a fun reason to begin now. Find your nearest GymNation in Dubai and get moving. Ready to get started? Fill in the enquiry form and the GymNation team will take it from there.

Sources:

khaleejtimes.com
dimc.ae
arabic.pressbee.net
sweat.com

The opinions shared in the GymNation blog articles are solely those of the respective authors and may not represent the perspectives of GymNation or any member of the GymNation team.