This weekend, the Royal Malta Yacht Club (RMYC) will be organising the Malta-Syracuse race, sponsored by Air Malta.

The organisers will be celebrating the 50th edition of this classic race which so far has managed to attract 109 boats to the start line.

"This is a remarkable time for the RMYC. Who would have guessed that our club and the Lega Navale Italiana would be celebrating 50 years of sailing collaboration," Georges Bonello DuPuis, club Commodore, said.

Many local boats will be vying to claim top honours in this race, including Allegra, Commanche Raider, Juno and TonTon Surfside, that has had a remarkable start to the season.

Peter Dimech is the Principal Race Officer.

"The start is no place for the faint-hearted and it's no easy task given the forecast weather especially with more than 100 boats lining up against each other. It's not looking good," he said.

"We have very little wind predicted for Saturday (tomorrow). Hopefully, the winds will be a little stronger than forecast."

Speaking about this race, Brock Friesen, Air Malta Chief Officer Commercial, said: "Air Malta is yet again thrilled to be associated with the Royal Malta Yacht Club.

"Through this sponsorship we are reaffirming once again Air Malta's commitment to the yachting community. We believe that such events give added value to the Maltese tourism product and we are confident that assisting similar events helps to attract more visitors to our islands.

"Promoting sports tourism is one of the strategies which we, together with the Malta Tourism Authority, are pursuing to draw more people to our country.

"We are working hard to increase tourism arrivals especially during our lean periods and sports tourism such as yachting is helping us in our activities," continued Dr Friesen.

The race starts tomorrow from the waters opposite the Preluna Hotel in Sliema at 10 a.m.