Kiev, Ukraine - 29th July. The only drama in the first race of the weekend at Kiev, Ukraine was when championship leader Khalid Al Shamlan from Team Qatar spun out on lap two and was hit by rival Arab team, Abu Dhabi driven by Rashed Al Tayer.

Al Tayer retired with a badly damaged starboard sponson while Al Shamlan's boat appeared to sink and rescuers are trying to retrieve it. After the pace boat completed five laps Liverpool's Mat Palfreyman took up the position he was in when the incident happened i.e at the front and never looked back.

Surprise package of the race was China's Xiong Ziwei who appears to be gaining confidence with each outing as he clinched second place ahead of Sweden's Bimba Sjoholm. Finland's Filip Roms crossed the line in 3rd place but was adjudged to have jumped the start and hit a turn buoy.

The Mad Croc pilot's error dropped him back to 6th and last place. Team Nautica's Tobias Munthe-Kaas filled 4th place while 'new boy' Valts Silis from Latvia, driving for Team Singha was awarded 5th place despite being lapped by almost everyone.

Hopefully tomorrow's second race of the championship will not be so processional and they find the missing Qatar boat.