“Switzerland’s Max Wallenberg and Victoria Schultheis, of Malta, are the new Optimist world champions, and the United States Team Racing winners.”
This was the final outcome of the 2016 Optimist World Championships, held recently at the Clube Internacional da Marina de Vilamoura, Portugal.
A great event indeed contested by 255 sailors (209 boys and 46 girls) from 58 countries.
Malta had three sailors in Vilamoura – Lucas Le Gault (15 years), Jake Satariano (13) and Victoria Schultheis (15), all members of the Malta Young Sailors Club (MYSC).
In the first two days of the Worlds, sailors competed in six races which determined the four fleets – gold, silver, bronze and emerald – in the final series.
Both Satariano and Le Gault made it to the bronze division where the former placed third and Le Gault 53rd.
Schultheis had a bad start but managed to work her way up to the top of the gold fleet and eventually won the championship in her first experience at the Worlds.
The participation of the Maltese team was sponsored by Crosscraft and MAPFRE.
A few days after the Worlds, Club Velico Crotone, Italy, hosted the 2016 Optimist European Championship.
This event attracted 256 sailors – 159 boys and 97 girls, representing 37 nations.
Here again Malta was present with six youngsters – Craig Farrugia Vella (15), Matthew Micallef (14), Saul Vassallo (12), Richard Schultheis (11), Patrice Pace (12) and Antonia Schultheis (13), all members of the MYSC.
The eight-day championships were characterised by unexpected high winds which resulted in almost daily postponements.
Richard Schultheis had a good qualifying series, entering the finals in a leading position. Vassallo, in his first showing at the Europeans, qualified for the gold fleet.
Antonia Schultheis improved her position steadily and on the last day, placed first in two races.
In the gold fleet, Richard Schultheis finished second, Farrugia Vella seventh, Micallef 35th and Vassallo 48th. Pace placed 19th in the bronze fleet. Antonia Schultheis finished second in the girls’ gold fleet.
Surely, these results reward the MYSC’s efforts to hone the talent of their promising members, also by giving them international exposure.
But, does participation in such prestigious events lift Malta’s image in the world of sailing?
Does Malta’s Optimist international event – the Euromed – benefit from such results?
“Yes I am sure it will,” MYSC secretary, Anna Rossi, said.
“In 2015, we had 200 sailors plus and I am sure that this year we will either match or surpass that mark.
“In 2016, Malta was the most successful country with three medals in the top events organised by the International Optimist Dinghy Association.”
Proud mother
Meanwhile, one person who should feel proud at the moment is Andrea Schultheis – mother of Victoria, Richard and Antonia.
How did this passion for sailing begin?
“Our children got their first sailing experience when they were just a few months old by joining us on racing boats,” Andrea Schultheis said.
“Soon, they couldn’t wait to learn how to sail themselves. We moved to Malta in the summer of 2011. Shortly after, they started sailing lessons at the Malta Young Sailors Club.”
As for the special ingredients behind their success, it is dedication, hard and intense training on the water and on shore.
The Schultheis siblings followed a two-year programme supported by club coach Jean Paul Fleri Soler and international mentor Maurizio Bencic.
“It has certainly been a great year so far for the Malta Young Sailors Club in various competitions abroad,” Fleri Soler said.
“We have been building up for this moment for these last two years and thanks to the support of the club, together with the efforts of the young sailors themselves and their parents, our members have made the country proud.”