Tricky conditions for National Sailing Championships

The Royal Malta Yacht Club hosted the Malta Sailing Federa‐ tion National Sailing Champi‐ onships in what were challenging conditions. These conditions have dogged this event since last year, when bad weather on the previ‐ ously scheduled dates forced the organisers to postpone.

On Saturday, weather condi‐ tions for the first day of racing, saw them test the Race Commit‐ tee who had to contend with a West North Westerly wind, which was gusting up to 34 knots and a sea swell going well over two me‐ tres. These adverse conditions meant that only the ILCA 7 Class, were able to fit two races in the afternoon.

Sunday proved to be slightly better albeit still tricky, with the days starting off with very low wind conditions and intermittent heavy downpours. Although the rain persisted throughout the day, the sun did make a small ap‐ pearance from time to time and as the day progressed the wind shifted to a steady North West‐ erly, increasing to around 25 knots. This meant that all Classes managed to fit in the required number of qualifying races.

The Race Management team, led by International Race Officer Ron Barak, designed two courses one for the Optimist and RS Feva Classes, and another for the ILCA Classes and the SB20 fleet. Optimist Beginners

Matteo Mamo won the two races and placing second in one saw him secure victory with a four point difference between him and second placed George Vilette who garnered two second places and a fourth place. Daniel Mizzi, won the second race but a sixth place in the final race saw him settle for third place. Optimist Senior & Cadet

Timmy Vassallo won the Class, with a two point margin ahead of Jonas Micallef. Vassallo garnered two first places in the second and third race to take the Class win. A shaky start from Daniyl Mykhailichenko saw him recoup in the second and third places to gain third place.

ILCA 4

Benjamin Vassallo was the clear winner in this Class having given a consistent performance throughout winning all three races on the day. Behind him Jake Mallia also gave a steady per‐ formance with two second places, whilst Domenico Procopio com‐ pleted the podium having fin‐ ished in third place.

ILCA 6

Matthew Flores won the Class after having to contend with a strong Dimitrios Vertsonis, both vying to win the Class.. A penalty gained in the first race proved to be costly for Vertsonis as he even‐ tually slipped down to fourth place. One point separated Flores and second placed Kurt Borg, who had won the first race. Lara Merten finished in third place.

ILCA 7

This fleet was made up of inter‐ national sailors currently on a training camp at the Royal Malta Yacht Club. Made up of Olympic Medallists, Olympians and word class sailors, the Class was won by Croatian Filip Jurišic, Bronze Medallist in the ILCA 7 Men’s World Championships last year, who with two wins out of four races was six points ahead of Olympic Medallist Tonci Sti‐ panovic. In third place was Pavlos Kontides. Both the latter sailors familiar with Maltese waters as they regularly make use of the Yacht Club’s facilities.

RS Feva

The double handed fleet saw Luke Ransley and Michael Church lead the fleet securing victories in all the three races. Behind them were Michaela Vertsoni and Nicole Zeiger. The two teams competed in all three races, with third placed Andre Fenech and Nathan Buttigieg Gili only com‐ peted in the first two races.

SB20s

Team Chiara and MSYC boats were crewed with highly experi‐ enced offshore sailors, with the majority having competed inthe Rolex Middle Sea Race, Rolex Fastnet and Rolex Sydney Hobart Races. Although less experienced and still getting to grips with the boats, other crews were still al‐ ways close behind and fast tech‐ nical racing ensued all the way. Team Chiara, skippered by Steve Carter, Andrea Vella and Daniel Fenech emerged winners. Team MYSC, skippered by Greg Mifsud, Emilie Gregory and Patrice Pace, made their SB20 debut in a re‐ spectable second place. In third place was Careful Now, skippered by Guy Baranyay, Greg Szabo and Florin Chitic.

The National Championships were a key event for local sailors vying to be part of the Maltese contingent in June, during the Games of the Small States of Eu‐ rope, which will take place in Malta in June, in fact the top sailors from this event will go on to represent Malta at the GSSE next May.

“The Malta Sailing Federation is pleased that once again the Na‐ tional Championships have brought out the best elements of the Maltese sailor. The improve‐ ment in the level of sailing is so evident and bodes well for the GSSE in June. I congratulate the Clubs and their coaches for this concerte effort, and thank you to the Royal Malta Yacht Club for hosting such a great event” com‐ mented Michael Mifsud, Presi‐ dent, Malta Sailing Federation.

The Prize Giving ceremony was held at the Yacht Club in the pres‐ ence of Kunsill Reġjonali Lvant President, Anthony Chircop, and Deputy President and Ta' Xbiex Mayor Max Zammit. The Kunsill Regjonali Lvant which has been appointed European Region of Sports 2023 supported this event.

“Although the weather provided a challenge to sailors and race management the Club is very sat‐ isfied with the outcome of these Championships. It is always a pleasure for us at the Club to wel‐ come our friends from local and international Clubs” remarked David Cremona, Commodore, Royal Malta Yacht Club. “We would like to thank Kunsill Reġjonali Lvant for sponsoring this event and to the Ta’ Xbiex Local Council for supporting us. Goes without saying that this event would not be possible with‐ out the forty or so volunteers who contributed their expertise throughout the event.”.