Yacht club in bid to host prestigious dinghy racing event

The Royal Malta Yacht Club is working on a proposal to host the International 505 in 2005, a prestigious dinghy racing event, in keeping with its commodore Georges Bonello Du Puis's aim to "invent as many things as possible to put Malta on the sailing map".

The world championship of the dinghy class is currently being held in Australia and has attracted as many as 102 participants.

If Malta manages to host the event, it would expect to attract about 150 dinghies, which would mean 300 sailors, amounting to 600 visitors to the island, including spouses and friends, who would spend around two weeks on the island.

Mr Bonello Du Puis said hosting major world championship events was also prestigious for Malta, and other yacht clubs overseas were starting to "feel the competition".

Those involved in the organisation of the INTL 505, as it is also known, have shown great enthusiasm, and a decision was expected to be taken in a month, said Mr Bonello Du Puis, who has now been at the helm of the Royal Malta Yacht Club for a year.

If things went according to plan, it was likely that the event would be held in October, 2005.

The Malta Tourism Authority is supporting the initiative and sending comprehensive information on Malta to the organisers.

Mr Bonello Du Puis's faith in Malta's potential as a racing venue - with its "marvellous seas" and easy accessibility from European countries - is undisputed and evident in his efforts to attract the world's most important sailing events.

The Royal Malta Yacht Club has come a long way and is capable of organising any race event, Mr Bonello Du Puis maintained. It is more business-orientated, professional and accountable, despite the fact that it is not run by full-timers, but by those who are passionate about the sport and dedicate their free time on a voluntary basis - a factor that has impressed foreign race organisers.

His confidence in a future for Malta as an international sailing venue stems from a passion for the sport. Although Mr Bonello Du Puis has his own business, his diary is packed with sailing-related events.

"The sailing events are always sponsored now... The last time the Rolex Middle Sea Race had a sponsor was in 1986," he said.

It has attracted mega businessmen and its current course record-holder, Robert McNeil, Walt Disney Co. vice-chairman Roy Disney and others, would be taking part in the 2004 event, with their 87-foot Maxi yachts.

The number of boats taking part in the race has increased from 11 to 42 and the aim was to attract over 50 next year.

The Rolex Middle Sea Race was supported by three ministries, but Malta could do more, Mr Bonello Du Puis maintained.

Malta was under-used in sailing, particularly as regards international events.

The yacht club was also working on holding the 2005 Admiral's Cup in Malta and Mr Bonello Du Puis was confident about the project even though it had never been held outside the UK.

The 2003 event has been moved from Ireland to Cowes, but the change in plans should not affect Malta's chances, Mr Bonello Du Puis said.

These initiatives were also aimed at helping the Malta Sailing Federation, providing it with more international coverage and increased funding.

Mr Bonello Du Puis truly believes in the federation. In fact, the proceeds of the Ramla Bay Regatta weekend - Lm620 - went towards helping it finance its international sailing coach, who is training the young Maltese sailors, taking part in the Small Nations Games in Malta next year.

The federation has several needs, Mr Bonello Du Puis pointed out. It still has no club premises to operate from, despite the fact that it has been working to obtain premises for years.

The sailing federation's goal is to turn Malta into a training camp for the sailing teams of northern countries, who took the sport very seriously, and "that goal must be reached," Mr Bonello Du Puis said.

Regarding the relocation of the Royal Malta Yacht Club on Manoel Island, Mr Bonello Du Puis said talks with the developers, the MIDI consortium, were moving at a slow pace.

"We would like to get on with it, but it is a slow process," he said.

Nevertheless, Mr Bonello Du Puis was confident that a good agreement would be reached for the club and its members.