Sailors participate in the annual dhow sailing race al-Gaffal Sailors participate in the annual long-distance dhow sailing race, known as al-Gaffal, meant to honour the lost tradition of pearl diving, that kicked off today. 131 traditional boats departed from the Sir Bu Nair island to Dubai: the winner boat is "Al-Shaqi" owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum and the skipper is Khalaf Al-Ghashish. \\n IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES