The inaugural edition of the Yachting Malta Awards was held last week in the presence of over 300 stalwarts and key stakeholders of the sailing community.
Nominated by the general public, the 17 nominees vying for the Outstanding Contribution for Yachting Award stood in a highly competitive field of exceptional performances in their respective careers. The list of nominees included sailors, entrepreneurs, powerboat champions, photographers and media personalities.
The Outstanding Contribution to Yachting Award was created specifically for the inaugural edition and is considered to be a beautiful representation of Maltese craftsmanship.
The first set from a series of Outstanding Contribution to Yachting Awards were awarded to six individuals who through their commitment, contribution and efforts, shaped the yachting community – as a sport and industry, as it is today.
The winners of the award were Arthur Podesta, Ronald Darmanin Kissaun, Paul Ripard, John Ripard, Wilfred Sultana and Teddy Borg.
Podesta was honoured for his long association with the Rolex Middle Sea Race which goes back to the inception meeting for the race. The former RMYC Commodore was the only sailor to compete in all the first 35 editions of the regatta.
Darmanin Kissaun worked hard to see Malta become one of the most successful yachting hubs in the Mediterranean. He was a pioneer promoter of Malta Flag Registration for yachts and together with Ing. Paul Cardona contributed towards the development of Commercial Yacht Registration.
Paul Ripard was considered to be one of the principle pioneers of yachting in Malta, he was one of the first, with his brother John to open a yachting agency in Malta.
In 1960 Paul Ripard was the youngest member of the contingent representing Malta in the Olympics when, with his brother John Ripard, competed for the first time in the Star Class category.
On his part John Ripard’s sailing expertise saw him represent Malta in the 1955 Mediterranean Games in Barcelona and the 1960 Olympiad, where he participated in the Star Class. In the early 1980s his international judging career took off which saw him chair the Race Committee for the Louis Vuitton Cup at the 1987 America’s Cup as well as several America’s Cup juries.
Esteemed career
Sultana enjoys an esteemed career with a 48-year span and has been recognised on several occasions. He has been involved in the organisation of a variety of high-profile events, such as the Malta-Pozzallo windsurf race, the Wishbone Windsurfing International Championship, the ‘off-road’ Camel Rally Malta, the Malta-Tunisia yachting rally, and world ranking snooker tournaments.
He is the founder editor and publisher of ‘Yachting in Malta’.
Borg was a pioneer in promoting sailing on the Maltese media. His work was proactive as he did not merely ‘report’ what happened, but created programmes that brought the spectacle of water sports to the public and most people came to know sailing through his work.
He was also chairman of the UIM Malta Powerboat Federation and was instrumental in bringing the P1 event to Malta.