A few weeks back Malta hosted the 26th Rolex Middle Sea Race, a positive one for records re number of entries. Yet, unfortunately, it was quite a disappointment where the number of finishers and timings were considered.
In fact, only nine out of a multi-national fleet of 58 starters managed to finish and with winners Atlanta II's elapsed time being 98hrs 4mins 6secs, this turned out to be the second slowest MSR ever.
At least, as remarked by Royal Malta Yacht Club Commodore Georges Bonello DuPuis, among the nine to make it around the 608-mile course was one of the 16 local entrants, David Franks' J/125 Strait Dealer.
Attending the prize-giving reception at the Mediterranean Conference Centre one could finger the vibes of disillusion, a great contrast to the vivacious atmosphere at the Crew Party two days prior to the start of the race.
This definitely does not water down the magnitude of the MSR as the wind could cause frustration at any manifestation even at The America's Cup, the most famous and prestigious event in sailing.
Now back to an upbeat outlook. One significant award at the MSR prize-giving was the Youth Cup presented to the youngest participating crewmember. Here, the holder was 13-year-old Luisa Manduca. She sailed her first MSR on her father's boat Allegra.
Over the past few months I have been following with interest the activities of the Malta Young Sailors Club and it is a fact that sailing among Maltese youngsters is today a growing attraction with girl-sailors playing a notable role in this successful process.
Manduca's achievement prompted me to ask around and to my delight I noted that there were four U-18 sailors, two boys and two girls, on this year's MSR list with a healthy number of others in their late teens and early 20s.
The other three U-18s who took up the challenge were Thomas Ripard, 16, Yasmin De Giorgio, 18, and Christoph Podesta, 16.
Talking to these 'sea cadets' I experienced four matured young characters whose confidence and outspokenness was simply superb and augurs well both for their personal fortunes and also for local sailing in general.
Manduca started sailing on an Optimist dinghy at the age of seven under the guidance of Andrew Calascione. She has already competed twice in the Island Games on the Optimist.
The other female in this group, De Giorgio (crew onboard Elusive), started sailing at the age of nine, also on an Optimist.
She has been actively involved in local dinghy sailing events besides now having raced the past four MSRs.
Hailing from the Ripard family, Thomas (crew onboard Jammin), has definitely been a deck hand since birth but he actually started sailing aged seven.
At the time when John introduced his son Thomas to sailing he was also instrumental in the setting up of the Malta Young Sailors Club patronised by parents who were keen to see their young children take up sailing.
Podesta (crew onboard Elusive) is definitely on the right track in his seafaring ambitions. He was only six when his father Arthur took him for a ride on a Mirror dinghy. Yet he learned to sail mostly with his brother and sister by trial and error and through experience.
Cool ambitions
Still in their teens all four youngsters possess commendable sailing experience and some cool ambitions too.
De Giorgio is presently at University in the UK and sails regularly for the University of Bristol 1st team on dinghies and yachts.
Her ambition: "To win the BUSA (British Universities Sailing Association) national team racing event and to become an established sailor."
Manduca has been joining her father, Alfred, as crew on various offshore events like the Malta-Syracuse, the Marzamemi Weekend and other cruises to Greece, Tunisia and Spain.
Her prospect: "I don't really know... I definitely want to carry on sailing in future."
Ripard has attended a sailing course conducted by Bryan Willis in the UK, besides others run by the MYSC. He raced every Euromed since 2000 and is a regular crew on his father's J-109. He attends college in the UK and represents his school in 420's and was part of the team that won the inter-collegiate Midlands Championships together with his older brother Sebastian.
This was his first MSR but with his background he has many thousands of cruising miles under his belt.
His aim: "To keep on enjoying sailing."
Podesta has a striking sailing portfolio. Already sailed the past four MSRs, raced in Optimist Championships and was crew on the Rolex Giraglia Race on a Keel Boat.
His ambition: "To do well and to represent my country in international events."
Yes, it is great to do well in sailing but all four 'buccaneers' are still students, so does their favourite sport hinder their studies?
"It does make it hard," De Giorgio admitted.
"It means you have less time during the week for studies so unless you manage to make up for the lost time it can hinder your studies."
Luisa most convincingly says "No... but it definitely hinders my social life," while Christoph humbly admits "Yes, it does quite a bit, but then everything has its drawback. At the end of the day sailing is worth it."
The MSR has been acclaimed by various esteemed yachtsmen as 'the most beautiful race course in the world and one of the most challenging'. Which were the toughest moments for our young adventurers?
Yasmine figures out that the Straits of Messina were very tough.
"We were stuck with very little wind and at least 2-3 knots of current against us. It was very frustrating watching a 2-3 hour lead on most of the boats in our class just disappear," she said.
Luisa considers that being in the same place for hours on end was quite frustrating and required a lot of concentration.
"Being able to keep focused was pretty difficult but the company helped pass the time and we motivated each other," she said.
Thomas feels that "the toughest part of the race was probably having to wake up for my watch. I've never been very good at waking up and because we were a relatively small crew we had quite a few watches to attend."
Christoph reckons "doing your job and continue to work in rough weather when the going gets tough, like when changing a head sail in 35 knots of wind and holding on to your life, was indeed difficult."
With so much importance having been given to the lack of wind and many retirements in the MSR one could look at the 2005 edition as having been a waste of time.
But was it really so?
Yasmine: "Very few races are a waste of time; there is always something to learn. The MSR was very good for working on spinnaker trimming as we had a lot of downwind sailing."
Luisa: "Not at all. I learned a lot from being at sea just those few days. There is a lot to draw from in every situation."
Thomas: "I don't think it was a waste of time at all. I enjoyed it because I love being at sea and even though there wasn't much wind, it was still very competitive."
Christoph: "Definitely not. Every moment at sea has something new to offer."
So, a new generation of sailors, too, are making headway on the local scene.
Smart young ones who definitely are finding more sailing opportunities than their fathers did.
Yet, it was thanks to the old legion that this enthusiastic breed took to the sea, and are now challenging the waves and attaining satisfaction and glory for themselves and eventually for their country too.