Godwin Zammit has a pretty good idea what impact sailing has on Malta. He has been on the committee of the Royal Malta Yacht Club since 2000, and is now in his third year as club commodore.

He has seen the money poured into the island through the Rolex Middle Sea Race, organised by the club itself, and the RC44 race organised by Yachting Events Ltd, estimated to have left €1.6 million in the economy. And yet, the club believes there is more that could be done to promote the yachting industry in general and to put Malta on the map as a yachting destination. It held discussions with Parliamentary Secretary for sport Chris Agius and Adrian Said from Projects Malta. The result was Yachting Malta, which hopes to do for the industry what Finance Malta does for financial services.

“The government wanted a partner and chose the yacht club because of its involvement with yachting as a non-profit organisation with experience in organising big races,” he said.

The club believes that there is more that could be done to promote the yachting industry in general and to put Malta on the map as a yachting destination

“But it is not only about organising races; there are other things we could be looking at like conferences and promotional events.”

The €210,000 funding being provided by the government will be used to promote initiatives in the industry, but although the board will have to approve proposals, it already seems clear a fair amount of the money will be initially be spent commissioning studies.

The board has representatives from Projects Malta and the yacht club, as well as representatives from Transport Malta, the Malta Tourism Authority and the sports sector.

Yachting is, of course, much wider than sailing. Apart from races and visiting yachts, the sector involves superyacht refits and repairs, registrations, and crewing. One of the biggest problems facing Mr Zammit is where to start. Yachting Malta needs information on all these aspects before decisions can be taken and one of the first jobs will be to gather available information and to commission studies to fill the gaps. It hasn’t even got a business plan yet, preferring to talk to stakeholders and see what is really bothering them as well as what ideas they have.

There is some information out there. The Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness Jose Herrera recently said that there was an increase of 13.6 per cent in the registration of commercial yachts over the previous year. There were 292 privately registered yachts of over 24m and a further 160 commercially registered ones as of December 2014.

Mr Zammit, like many others, believes that affluent yacht owners are a superb target market for everything from property to investment.

“Too many people associate the impact of a race in a limited way. Of course, an event like the Middle Sea Race brings money from bringing over the boats and equipment, as well as the crews’ flights and accommodation. There are also the race entry fees and sponsorship from abroad. But the owners are also very influential people and the impact of their contact with Malta is not always immediately obvious,” he said.

Godwin Zammit. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

“The race has a huge following and the annual Rolex 25-minute video of the event is aired in full, several times, on international news channels.”

There has long been demand for smaller visiting yachts, which has been partially solved by adding pontoons at Msida Creek and at the club itself. Mr Zammit sees that demand could grow considerably but he is more concerned about getting larger yachts here, especially for refits or for wintering. These much more lucrative visits are being hindered by a variety of issues, including that their crews may prefer to be in Palma or Monaco. A more worrying one is that superyacht captains – who tend to take decisions on these aspects – have given feedback over the years that Malta may not provide all the technical services they require.

Apart from yachts and their needs, Malta can also look into crew training

Stakeholders already do a fair share of marketing, whether putting up a stand at the Monaco Boat Show or bringing captains down for familiarisation visits. After all, considerable amounts of money have been invested, in marinas and refit facilities, as well as engineering and technical services and the Nautical Institute. Mr Zammit stressed that the intention was not to reinvent the wheel but rather to ensure that the at times fragmented approach could be consolidated to generate new momentum and ideas.

As an example, he mentioned the Marsamxett breakwater, a long-awaiting development that has now been shoved into the lap of the Chinese government as a possible infrastructural partnership.

“The breakwater would make the whole of the creek an effective marina as without it the area is not completely comfortable in all conditions, except for the area beyond the Msida breakwater.

“However, one of the things that we lack in Malta are berths at the end of people’s gardens.

“The original brief for Manoel Island had envisaged this and it would be interesting to see if these materialise.

“Very high net individuals often have yachts – a few applicants of the citizenship scheme have already joined the yacht club,” he pointed out.

Apart from yachts and their needs, Malta can also look into crew training, building on what is being offered by the Nautical Institute.

“The institute tends to train people for commercial shipping, rather than superyachts, which need a large element of hospitality. Maybe it would be an idea for the Institute of Tourism Studies to look into this...” he mused.

The services required for the management of large yachts also require considerable study. For example, there are complex arrangements for the payment of Vat, particular when a yacht is used for charter, and other legal implications of aspects like choice of flag and financing, which require careful handling. There is clearly a lot to be done.

Some ideas are already taking shape, the quick wins being more events, such as an inshore regatta similar to Palma Vela, and a J70 sailing class championship.

“Effort in this area are more likely to have tangible results in the short term while the other broader initiatives look further ahead.

“Yachting Malta has been set up for two years initially. Let us start with that and then take it from there,” he said.