Peter Valentino Jnr and Matthew Fleri Soler were recently awarded the titles of senior and junior Sailors of the Year 2002 respectively by the Malta Sailing Federation.

Their selection was carried out by a panel consisting of Jovin Rausi, John Ripard and Georges Bonello du Puis, representing the federation, Marie Therese Zammit for the Malta Olympic Committee and Sportswriters' Association official Mario Meli.

The panel, chaired by Rausi, based its assessment of all nominees on precise criteria set by the federation. These included local and overseas performances and commitment to improve and upgrade the level of the sport in general.

This format was generally considered to have been very successful. It is planned that the same system will be retained in future.

The candidates nominated were Mario Aquilina, Matthew Farrugia and Peter Valentino, in the senior category, and juniors Benji Borg, Matthew Fleri Soler and Christof Podesta.

Valentino, 18, topped the seniors' contest. He is the current national Laser Radial Class champion. He won first place in all local events held last year.

In 2002 he also figured in two Laser training camps, organised by the Italian Olympic Committee, and in the Laser Radial Youth European Championships and the Austrian National Championships. On both occasions he placed in the top half of the fleet.

Consistency

Fleri Soler is just 13 years old. He sails in the Optimist Class and was protagonist of two important international sailing events last year.

He was the overall winner in the Dubai International Regatta and the Malta Euromed International. His performance throughout the year was consistently excellent despite stiff competition from the rest of the Optimist fleet.

Sailing will be contested in the Games of the Small States of Europe in Malta next June. Results here will naturally have a substantial bearing on the selection of next year's award winners.