Although still in its infancy, having been incepted in 2021, the Yachting Malta BSC International Regatta is growing from strength to strength as can be seen from the level of sailors who will be racing this week.
The four-day regatta will start tomorrow and end on Sunday, with the host club, Birżebbuġa looking forward to welcoming approximately 120 sailors representing eight nations.
The Maltese national sailing team will also be competing in this ranking event, which will also serve as an excellent opportunity to hone their skills in preparation for the forthcoming Games of the Small States of Europe in Malta in June.
Amongst the international sailors present in the Optimist Fleet, are top-ranked Dutch sailor Ole Jagers, Ukrainian Daniel Mikhailichenko, who placed fourth in the Optimist World Championships last year, and Lithuania’s Erik Scheidt, who finished seventh in the Optimist Worlds.
Scheidt’s father, Robert is one of the most successful Olympic Classes sailors having five Olympic medals to his name.
Locally, the fleet will include top-ranked sailors Timmy Vassallo (Malta Young Sailors’ Club), Jonas Micallef (Royal Malta Yacht Club), and Emily Fenech (Birzebbugia Sailing Club).
The Top local sailors in the ILCA fleet are Benjamin Vassallo (Malta Young Sailors Club) Jake Mallia, Matthew Flores, Shaun Aquilina, Lacey Aquilina, all representing hosts Birżebbuġa, and Dimitri Pipi-Vertsonis (Royal Malta Yacht Club).
Meanwhile, the Birżebbuġa Sailing Club are hosting a coaching clinic led by Simone Ricci and Ivan Vassilev which has been taking place since Saturday and is being attended by around 30 strong sailors from Bulgaria, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Thailand, Ukraine, and Malta.
Despite the cold weather that was not expected by sailors hailing from northern European countries, the fleet was thrilled to experience consistently good wind, medium. swell and sun.
“Birżebbuġa Sailing Club is looking forward to hosting its third Yachting Malta BSC International Regatta and is very satisfied to see it is growing from strength to strength,” Mario Aquilina Commodore of Birżebbuġa Sailing Club said.
“Malta offers excellent sailing opportunities for our international friends and we are delighted to see that they are experiencing it.”
The Yachting Malta BSC International Regatta is held under the auspices of the Malta Sailing Federation and sponsored by Yachting Malta Ltd. The event is supported by RLR Yachting, Go&Fun, 3FL Sails and Birzebbugia Local Council.
