Young challengers for Malta award

They will be coming from Germany, Denmark, the UK, Italy, Israel, Monaco, Sicily, San Marino and Russia to join other young sailors from Malta to contest the 12th Malta Euromed Champion-ship in the coming weeks.

The event, to be raced in Mellieħa Bay between December 17 and 20, will be mainly an Optimists’ competition where the ultimate award is the Euromed trophy which over the past 11 years has seen ten different winners – Ireland, Sweden (twice), Malta (four times), Italy, Turkey and Russia (twice).

Malta’s Thomas Zammit Tabona is the only sailor to have won the trophy twice, in 2006 and 2007. The youngest winner ever was 11-year-old Russian Nikita Ushkov in 2009.

The number of registrations is not yet finalised with the organisers expecting more foreigners to confirm participation in the coming days. However, a record number of 130 entrants, like last year, is anticipated.

The Optimist dinghy is acknowledged as a one design, single-handed craft where only sailors under the age of 16 are eligible to contest. This is the largest junior class in the world and a recognised ISAF category.

The racing fleet in the four-day Euromeds includes both male and female sailors with ages ranging from seven to 15 years.

The Optimists will be divided into six classes – Boys Open, Girls Open, Junior Boys, Junior Girls, Boys Cadets and Girls Cadet.

The Malta Championship is also an attraction for Laser sailors where participation is not constrained by age limit. Here, there will be three classes – 4.7 Boys, 4.7 Girls and the Laser Radial.

For the first time this year, the organisers will introduce a RS Feva class, dedicated to the 3.64m dinghy, acclaimed to provide youngsters with an ideal learning platform and said to be spreading around the world like wildfire.

The Euromeds are organised by the Malta Young Sailors Club in conjunction with Kunsill Malti għall-iSport and the Mellieħa Local Council and held under the patronage of the Malta Sailing Federation.

Mellieha Bay Hotel is the championship’s official hotel while the Point Break beach club will be the event’s headquarters.

The idea behind the Euromeds was, and still is, to give local young sailors an opportunity to participate in an international event in home waters thus without the need to travel overseas.

This year’s championship will see some 40 plus local sailors in action, the youngest being 10-year-old Sean Miggiani.

For the foreign sailors, the Euromeds are an occasion to enjoy a competitive event in milder weather. Furthermore, the foreign groups always make it a priority during their sojourn to go on excursions and visit places of historical interest.

Certainly, the championship is an established winter event and a typical local attraction under the sport tourism spectrum.

As usual, competition will be held under the jurisdiction of a panel of three international jury members – Margriet Pannevis (Holland), Erich Michel Gerhart (Austria) and Peter Valentino (Malta).

They will be assisted by a national jury team made up of Jovin Rausi and Godwin Zammit under the chairmanship of Valentino and assisted by Malta Sailing Federation president Anna Rossi.

Peter Dimech will be the Principle Race Officer.