Third time lucky for the Russians

A contingent of 13 sailors, accompanied by three coaches and Vladimir Nazarov, president of the Russian Optimist Class, made their prologue to the eighth edition of the Euromed championship in 2007.

The young and talented sailors made an immediate impact, presenting sound competition with near misses. Yet, this year on their third participation, they have made it!

Russia, thanks to 11-year-old Nikita Ushkov, now joins the six countries that produced overall winners in the first 10 editions of the Euromed Malta Championship. These are: Ireland, Sweden (twice), Malta (four times), Italy, Turkey and Russia.

Edward Fleri Soler was close in second place overall with another Russian youngster, Rosskazov Pavel, claiming third place.

After four days of competitive racing the young sailors demonstrated a good ability to adapt to sometimes very challenging weather conditions with winds reaching 28 knots. However, while most of Europe was experiencing harsh, and in some cases even extreme Polar conditions, the championship's days in December were quite fair, averaging around 17.5º Celsius.

In all, there were 19 trophies at stake in the 2009 Euromeds, of which seven were won by Maltese sailors, seven by the Russians, three by Italians and two by British sailors.

Organisers were pleased with the locals' performance: The Maltese team consisted of four sailors in the Cadet division with Thomas Bonello Ghio placing second. We had eight sailors in the Junior division and here Robert Muscat placed third.

One of the four youngest sailors in the Junior fleet, eight-year-old Craig Farrugia Vella, also placed third but Muscat broke the tie and got the prize.

In the Open division, there were 10 Maltese sailors. Fleri Soler placed first in this category and this happened because the Russian who won the overall trophy is a Cadet.

In the Laser 4.7, five male and two females from the Malta team took part. Thomas Zammit Tabona placed first. Simon Psaila won the Laser radial class ahead of Maya Podesta and Sean Borg.

The Italian sailors from Sicilian club Kaukana, of Ragusa, and another group from Reggio Calabria's Circolo Velico Reggio, loyal supporters of the Euromeds, secured three podium places.

In the Optimist junior class, Peter Iozzia (Kaukana) was first with Rosalba Giordano (Velico) second and Muscat third.

In the Laser 4.7 Class, after ten trials, Italian Sacha Ruffo (Velico) finished second behind Zammit Tabona, who last year won the 25th Mediterranean Cup in Reggio Calabria.

Great Britain returned home with a third place by William Nicholls (Laser 4.7) and another third for Robert Baddely (Optimist Open).

As predicted, the Euromed was a pleasant occasion. Maria Frolova, the Russia coach, must have expressed the sentiments of all foreign teams when she explained the reason for their participation.

"Well organised, friendly atmosphere and ideal weather conditions for sailing," she said.

"The level of Russian Optimist sailors is steadily increasing and this Euromed victory by Nikita Ushkov is not only a proud moment for our federation but it should encourage more young Russian sailors to compete in this event.

"In fact, we intend to promote the Euromed 2010 early this time because we believe more young sailors could be induced to make this special Malta trip where we even had time to visit some of the island's historic places like Valletta and Mdina."

Definitely, the organisers and all those who supported them in this 10th edition of the Euromeds should be happy with another successful event. Most of the volunteers are also parents, of past or current young participants, thus their enthusiasm and energetic input is beyond measure.

The Euromed Malta Championship was organised by the Malta Young Sailors Club in partnership with the Kunsill Malti għall-iSport and under the auspices of the Malta Sailing Federation.

Atlas Insurance and Air Malta were the main sponsors while the Mellieħa Local Council, the Mellieħa Fishing Association, Meteo Malta and the Riu Seabank Hotel also extended their support and co-operation.

Past winners

2000: L. Tait - Ireland
2001: T. Thorn - Sweden
2002: M. Fleri Soler - Malta
2003: V. Valacchi - Italy
2004: H. Grim - Sweden
2005: O. Arin - Turkey
2006: T. Zammit Tabona - Malta
2007: T. Zammit Tabona - Malta
2008: E. Fleri Soler - Malta
2009: N. Ushkov - Russia