Yesterday morning, the Rolex Middle Sea Race organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club kicked off with incredible splendour and joy at Manoel Island. A day earlier I had occasion to see for myself the various wonderful boats taking part in this race as they were proudly berthed at the new Cottonera marina.
It was an array of colour, design and above all dedication by the various owners and crews on board ready for yesterday's commencement to the race. Yachting is becoming an important tourism niche that deserves to be well taken care of, and new development projects co-ordinated by the Ministry of Tourism are including this niche within their parameters. This applies with regard to the Cottonera project, while it is also true of the Manoel Island and Tigné development project where already additional pontoons and berths have been laid out.
Yachting is a very popular sport all over the world and particularly in the Mediterranean where tens of thousand of yachts seek berthing facilities, maintenance yards and other services.
Malta's strategic position at the centre of the Mediterranean coupled with its excellent natural harbours contributed to our popularity as a leading yachting centre. I believe we have the necessary facilities to offer sailing and boating enthusiasts. These developments in the tourism sector are turning Malta into an international playground.
Malta's development as a yachting centre started in the Sixties when Lazzaretto and Msida quays were developed by the government to supplement the yachting quay at Ta' Xbiex built after independence as part of Government's plans to diversify the economy.
Way back in 1963 a committee was set up to advise the Minister for Development and Tourism on the planning and operation of a yachting centre in Malta. United Nations assistance was obtained and an expert was sent to Malta to advise on the matter.
During the past 40 years yachting berths have increased and facilities improved. We can today boast of two major yachting centres, one in Malta and another in Gozo and a number of smaller marinas.
The Msida Marina is situated in the innermost part of Marsamxett Harbour, and is in very safe and sheltered surroundings. Berthing is provided on floating pontoons, providing 700 berths up to 18 metres in length on double mooring lines.
The Mgarr Marina in Gozo consists of 208 berths in the island's major harbour where safety was increased through the building of a breakwater.
These marinas operated by the Malta Maritime Authority provide over 1,000 berths. Other marinas are now operated by the private sector in Manoel Island, Portomaso and Cottonera and provide another 500 berths.
A welcome addition to our yachting facilities is the Grand Harbour Marina which forms part of the Cottonera project. This facility caters for 230 berths. This yacht marina, inaugurated last August with an investment of Lm4 million, is a state-of-the-art facility that offered yacht owners stable and secure berths in a historic environment.
The pontoon system used in Cottonera uses heavy displacement floating concrete piers imported from Finland. Walking over them, one immediately realises that they are more stable and comfortable in comparison to other composite systems. These piers have been fixed in position using an environmentally friendly pre-tensioned mooring system known globally as 'Sea flex'. The use of this mooring system guarantees a lesser impact on the seabed than traditional chain moorings.
Going back to Vittoriosa last Friday to see the amazing yachts set against Cottonera's magnificent historic setting was an enjoyable experience. I spoke to quite a few owners and skippers taking part in the Middle Sea Race and they were amazed at what Malta has to offer. A few of them have been here before but this has been their first opportunity to discover Cottonera, its settings, its history and its unique space for the yachts that berthed there. Most wish to keep coming back, to be able to use again the Cottonera berths.
As I walked along, I spoke to the persons responsible for the Cottonera marina. There was a lot to talk about - not merely recalling how the project has come through but also planning ahead for the components that are to follow, with regard to the project as a whole as well as to the marina itself since the quay will soon enough begin to be extended by Government to offer a safe harbour for the superyachts that are expected to start making full use of the Cottonera marina.
Yachting could be considered as one of our major niche markets attracting international yachtsmen, their families and friends to our islands. Along the years a number of regattas found their place in our yachting calendar. These enhance the yachting market and place Malta among the yachting destinations of the Mediterranean.
The Rolex Middle Sea Race, organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club, forms part of our yachting calendar. With the inauguration of the Grand Harbour Marina the RMYC moved to Cottonera to accommodate the larger number of boats participating this year in the race. Such developments are welcome because the expansion of these activities leads to further economic growth and should be encouraged.
The Malta Tourism Authority is rightly giving its support to events that promoted tourism to our country.
I would like to extend my gratitude to the Commodore, Georges Bonello du Puis, as well as all committee members of the RMYC who make such events a reality through their own personal commitment and dedication.
Over the past months I have been engaged in discussions with them as well as MIDI consortium in an effort to find alternative premises for the club once it would need to move from those occupied at present in view of the Manoel Island and Tigné development project. Not only have alternative premises been identified but Government has offered to fork out the cost of the building of the premises to encourage this sport and all that it could mean for our country.
Yachting is given tremendous importance by such other high yield tourism destinations as Monte Carlo and the Costa Smeralda. There is no reason why Malta should not offer facilities that compare well with those found elsewhere. Our Grand Harbour remains unique not only for the natural safe shelter that it has been offering through its thousands of years of history, but also for its history and in particular for the unique line of fortifications that have been bequeathed to us by the Knights and that are not matched anywhere else.
Entering our Grand Harbour on board a yacht or a cruise liner is a unique happening and experience as the various participants at this year's Middle Sea Race were only too pleased to point out to me.
Recently I had the opportunity to welcome to Malta the deputy mayor of Lavandou on the occasion of the holding of the Borde Maltaise, another event that has become part of the yachting calendar with the support of the MTA.
Through such events, Malta is being projected as an experience rather than merely as a destination since a good number of visitors are not coming to Malta for the sun, sea and sand but are being attracted by our culture, history, religious tourism, learning of English, conferences and incentives, trekking, underwater diving. These are all niche markets as is yachting.
Malta lies on one of the major shipping arteries. It offers a whole range of international maritime services, from deep natural harbours, to bunkering, ship supplies, towage services, ship repair and ship building, transhipment and distribution. Malta also boasts one of the major free ports and oil terminals in the Mediterranean, a ship register which is now one of the largest in the world, a cruise liner passenger terminal (under construction) and yacht marinas backed by efficient repair and shore support services.
Such factors help Malta become an international playground as it looks into the new opportunities presented by its geographic position at the centre of the Mediterranean and as it seeks to build new tourism niches, not least with regard to yachting.
info@franciszammitdimech.com, www.franciszammitdimech.com