Countdown is on... Swedish triplets among challengers

It's now only a couple of days to go for the start of the six-nation (Russia, England, Sweden, France, Italy and Malta) Euromed Championships to be held over a four-kilometre course at Mellieħa Bay between Thursday and Monday.

Great Britain will be having 11 Optimist sailors, the youngest being Drew Michael Wright, only eight years. The British contingent also includes two Laser 4.7 sailors.

The youngest Russian in the group of 10 Optimist sailors will be nine-year-old Anton Danilov whose father, Alex, is the team leader and the one who oversees the Russian team's participation.

The Optimist team from the Sicilian Circolo Velico Reggio is made up of six sailors mainly born in 2000 with the team also including five Laser 4.7 sailors.

Four more Sicilians come from the Circolo Velico Kaukana whom our young sailors are anxious to race against in home waters after they experienced summer races in Sicily at a CVK Regatta.

France is represented by one sailor, Felix Michon, 14.

Sweden's colours are being flown by female triplets, Petra, Sofia and Andra Cammings, aged 14, thus contesting their last year in the Optimist class.

In all, there will be 15 female competitors - 11 in the Open Class, two in the Cadet and two in the juniors' fleet.

Further to Drew Michael Wright, three other locals, Craig Farrugia Vella, Matthew Micallef and Shaun Miggiani, are also eight-year-olds, the youngest sailors in the championships.

It is projected that the Optimist Class will feature 60 competitors.

The Malta Optimist entrants are divided into two groups - Group A under the guidance of national coach Jean Paul Fleri Soler and Group B under the supervision of Simon Psaila.

While the majority of Maltese sailors are members of the Malta Young Sailors Club, a small group hails from the Birżebbuġa Sailing Club who will be racing in the junior class. They are coached by David Dalli.

Local sailors will also be contesting the Radial Class and they are under the guidance of Mario Aquilina, an ex-Laser Standard GSSE gold medallist who is also responsible for Laser sailors.

The Race Committee, chaired by the International Race Officer Peter Dimech, will comprise Jenny Camilleri, Norman Cutajar, Paul Warren and Robert Ciantar. The committee boat is being made available by Tonio Miggiani.

The Race Office is run by Anna Rossi assisted by Mikela Zammit Tabona and Graziella Borg while the results are being worked out by Mark Fleri Soler. John Ripard is in charge of safety on the water while Steve Witty is beach-master.

Witty is very active in the Optimist scene in the Midlands where his son Chris is the coach for the GBR team.

In my previous article on the forthcoming Euromed, I encouraged the support to the event by one and all, especially the Mellieħa Local Council and the Malta Tourism Authority.

My attention was immediately drawn to the fact that the Mellieħa Local Council were already supporting Euromed, mainly by funding part of the trophies' cost, and authorising the free use of It-Tunnara and its slipway. Besides, all participants are being hosted at the Milied Mellieħi, a Christmas manifestation being held under a big tent in the village square.

The Malta Young Sailors Club, in partnership with Kunsill Malti għall-Isport and under the auspices of the Malta Sailing Federation, are the organisers of the Euromed Malta Championships which this year are being sponsored by Atlas Insurance and Air Malta.