By Gregg Mansfield

Over the past few years I've seen photos of tennis greats Andre Agassi and Roger Federer hitting balls on the world's highest tennis court. I've also watched Tiger Woods on television drain his putts on a golf course in the middle of the desert.

Never did I realize that these images were coming out of Dubai, which is part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Middle East.

Dubai has been described as Las Vegas without the gambling, but there is more to this tourism-driven city. It is a Muslim country that is very westernized and offers a glimpse of the future with a touch of old Middle East.

Associate publisher Vicki Newton, photographer Tom Newby, West Coast sales manager Jeff Johnston and myself traveled to Dubai in late November as guests of the Dubai International Marine Club and the Victory Team. We were there to check out the Class 1 world championships and to do a feature story on the Victory Team, which is a promotional tool for the UAE.

While they were eager to show us what offshore racing was like in the Middle East, our hosts also encouraged us to explore the area. We visited some of the grandest malls, rode camels and took a tour of the Burj Al Arab hotel where Agassi and Federer played tennis on the heliport. From there we could see the Palm and World islands under construction. Crews are literally creating vast islands in the middle of the Gulf, which will be home to some of the world's greatest mansion and hotels.

Construction is booming on the mainland too. I lost count around 80 at the number of skyscrapers under construction. Each of the buildings average about 40 floors, hardly small by any country's standards. But the construction has come at a price. Traffic is favorite conversation among the locals, and during our trips, the gridlock on some city streets and freeways rivaled anything found in Southern California.

Back to reality, we discovered the offshore race scene in Dubai was everything that our hosts had promised. Each race team has full-time employees whose singular goal was to get their team into position to win the world championship.

Like Dubai, the various race teams are a melting pot of nationalities. Take the Victory Team, which has crew members from Italy, France, England and Australia. Other teams hire from around the world.

What also impressed us was how the Dubai International Marine Club made the race a destination for locals to attend. Although a rare rainstorm in Dubai (it rains there five days a year) kept fans away, it was a large-scale production. The producers set up a large hospitality area and bleachers along the shore so fans could get closer to the race action. Race teams also hosted hospitality tents for guests and team members.

While offshore racing in the country has a small but enthusiastic following, it was hardly the only event going on in the city. Just that weekend alone in Dubai, ESPN's X Games had started, go-kart championships were underway and a major rugby tournament was just ending.

As you can see, Dubai has plenty going on. Starting with this issue and in the coming months, we plan to do some feature stories on the vibrant offshore race scene in Dubai. We were there for about a week and the country made a remarkable impression. We're hoping it might even convince you to take a trip there later this year to watch some racing.

When it comes to performance boating and offshore racing, we all speak the same language.

Click to enlarge.