Marco Gradoni was declared overall winner of the 17th MAPFRE/Middlesea Euromed Regatta 2016.

Strong, gusty winds and the cold weather which hit the Maltese islands last weekend caused a delay to the racing programme which, however, went into full swing on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Gradoni is a member of the Tognazzi Marine Village Club, in Ostia, a few kilometres outside Rome.

The 12-year-old, who raced in the Senior Division of the Optimist Class, became the third young sailor to win the title for Italy.

The 17 editions saw six winners from Malta, three winners each from Italy and Russia, two from Sweden and one each from Great Britain, Ireland and Turkey.

A racing fleet of 216 sailors – 33 Laser, 14 Optimist Novice (sailing for not more than 12 months), 72 Optimist Cadet (8-11 years old), 97 Optimist Senior (12-15 years old) – from 17 countries contested this year’s championship.

The countries represented were Austria, Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

The Euromed championships were organised by the Malta Young Sailors Club.