In just three seasons the Qatar Team has established itself as a ‘tour-de-force’ in the sport, with HE Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani and Matteo Nicolini winning their first title, the European Championship in 2005. Set up by the Qatar Marine Sports Federation in 2003, they made their debut in Plymouth in the ex Damas hull. Three races later they unveiled a new raceboat in the National colours of Qatar, winning the Pole Position and finishing third two races later in Dubai. A spectacular crash in Lisbon in 2004 was immediately followed by a second podium in Plymouth and their maiden Grand Prix victory in Oslo, taking two further top three finishes in Qatar and Dubai to finish the season fourth overall. In 2005 the team was restructured to run independently and entered two boats, collectively taking one race win and four podium finishes, with Qatar 96 taking third in the title race. Last season both boats ran the Mercury Class 1 engines, with Qatar 95 taking their maiden Grand Prix win in Doha, finishing third overall in the World Championship standings with Qatar 96 finishing fifth and second in the Pole Position Championship, finishing the season with two Pole wins.
[source]
