“I am a very positive person and I would rather focus our discussion on the bright side of life. But one cannot disregard my health condition and the repercussions this has had on me and, unfortunately, on my family too.

“Irrespective of seven visits to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, DNA tests carried out at Sloan-Ketterling Cancer Centre, New York and at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, and even tests at a hospital for nuclear medicine, no clear diagnoses have ever been determined.

“In addition to the exhausting illness anxiety, the most depressing setback was the winding-up of all my activities, both business and social, and being constrained to retire from active public life.”

But for over two years now, Wilfred has been seeing signs of improvement, minute as these might be, in his overall condition, mainly as a result of his desire and willingness to get back into action.

In early 2002, a British publisher approached Wilfred with his plans to produce a yachting publication: The Mediterranean Yacht Planners Guide. This old business associate and personal friend then remarked that although he was aware of Wilfred’s health condition, he felt he had to give him the opportunity of first refusal before approaching someone else for the job. This triggered off a spirit of willpower and Wilfred accepted. The outcome: He not only wrote the Malta feature, and secured adequate local advertising support, but he eventually managed to stage the world launch of the publication in Malta.

Wilfred is synonymous with the sea and the yachting fraternity, but what were his experiences of sport in his childhood? “Like most kids of my age, it was primarily football. I was always an active student, involved in school activities, mainly football, table-tennis and drama. My major accomplishment in these areas: I was chosen to form part of the Malta schoolboys international football team which participated in the 1967 FISEC Tournament, Malta’s first ever in these now popular games.

“Among my colleagues were players who are still held in high esteem in the annals of local football: Louis Arpa and Willie Vassallo of Floriana and Cikku Mifsud of Hibs. I was also on the books of Valletta FC and played in the left back position in the Under-18s and Under-21s. My football idol then was Schnellinger, the famous German left back renowned for his overlaps,” he said.

In 1964 he won the Pre-YCW (Zghazagh Haddiema Nsara) table-tennis Malta Championship and in 1972, at the age of 23, he won the National Children’s Drama Festival, organised by the Fsobians, with a play he wrote and directed himself entitled Il Pispirellu.

Ever since he was young, Wilfred had a tendency to enjoy being active and getting involved in anything that gave him a challenge.

In sailing, he is known as a publisher, promoter, and journalist.

“My association with yachting came about when I left school in 1966/67 and got my first job as a clerk typist in the general service. Seconded to the Malta Govern-ment Tourist Board, I was assigned to the newly established yachting centre section. This was my first involvement with the yachting environment. I gradually became involved in yachting/sailing activities through direct contact with yachtsmen, the yacht club and the yachting business community.”

The lack of available printed material on yachting at the time induced him to venture into publishing yachting/sailing magazines, following an encouraging “new” experience he had had with the publishing of some football publications. In fact, his first ever publication was entitled The Way To The Final, a souvenir magazine he produced in connection with the 1970 Mexico World Cup. Other publications followed, including European Soccer Scene (1971-1974), Spinnaker Yachting News (1975-1979), Wishbone Windsurfing (1986-89) and the renowned Yachting In Malta (1976-2004).

In the summer of 2002, following the positive experience of producing the Malta feature in The Mediterranean Yacht Planners Guide, Wilfred had another pleasant surprise, this time from Libya, specifically a request from someone then working on a maritime encyclopedia project asking for a copy of Yachting in Malta – the last edition of which, ironically, had been published 15 years before. “This, I must admit, got me excited and encouraged me to have a go at publishing another edition of the guidebook. On 4 November 2002, I informed the gentleman that the publication in question was currently out of print, but a new edition was being produced and eventually he would receive a copy. Following the launch of the sixth edition of Yachting In Malta, on 2 October 2003, Mr Meka’ash of Tripoli was among the first overseas associates to be supplied with a copy.”

Wilfred Sultana is regarded as a connoisseur concerning the promotion of local yachting activities and apart from publishing Yachting In Malta, he is also the author of various editorials on Malta’s potential as a yachting haven featured in quality international publications. These include The Super Yacht Ports & Marinas Guide, The Mediterranean Yachts Planners Guide, Mediterranean Yachting, Boat International, Mediterranean Yachting & Cruising and The International Yacht Planners Guide.

A particular milestone in Wilfred’s sports career was undoubtedly his involvement with windsurfing. In the early 1980s he was press officer to an international windsurfing (Ten Cat Class) tournament. This was the beginning of a long and successful association with the sport presented under his personal novelty brand-name of “Wishbone” – The Wishbone Surf Magazine.

The International Wishbone Open Championships symbolised the heyday of windsurfing in Malta, culminating with the organisation of the first ever windsurf crossing from Sicily to Malta in 1982, and the 93km Wishbone Malta-Sicily Windsurf Race was held 10 times between 1984 and 1994.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first race and Wilfred thought that the best way to celebrate the occasion was to have a commemorative race involving competitors and yachtsmen who were an integral part of this successful event.

In fact, The Malta-Sicily Windsurf Race – 20 Years After, scheduled for the third week in September, will once more bring into action the three main protagonists of this event – Jean Paul Fleri Soler, Peter Bonello and Paul Ellul, who will be escorted by a number of the “old time” escort skippers.

This 20th anniversary race is also being used as a platform to raise funds for The Park of Friendship. “These people are giving an invaluable service to Maltese society and I hope we manage to create appropriate awareness and secure support from the general public.”

Nearly 20 years ago, in 1985 to be precise, Wilfred was voted National Sports Official of the Year for his contribution to the promotion and success of the sport of windsurfing in Malta.

Another particular sporting event associated with happy moments from Wilfred’s past was the Camel Adventure, an off-road extravaganza for 4x4 vehicles and bikes.

He said: “This was successfully organised for three years in 1987, 1988 and 1989. This go-go event was great while it lasted. The Maltese Islands are far too small, with limited adequate terrain, for such a sport and with increasing environmental awareness, I feel there is now no place for such an event.”

One pleasant experience in Wilfred’s extensive and exhilarating sporting biography is his connection with professional snooker.

He said: “This came about 10 years ago when snooker fanatics Richard Balani and Joe Zammit and ‘complete-stranger’ to the game – yours truly – teamed up and set-up Snooker Promotions (Malta) with budding aspirations based on fervent enthusiasm, of promoting and organising high level snooker events. By securing four editions of the prestigious European Open, apart from other high-profile invitational tournaments, over the past 10 years we have definitely helped give Malta an identity of a quality sport destination.”

With such an extensive mixed range of activities do you have any particular regrets and what are your future plans and ambitions?

“Well, I guess in life whatever one does, there are shortcomings but I don’t look for regrets, I only look towards improvements. After going through the past seven years of health ordeal, I tend to look at my future as if it is today. Today I am preparing for the windsurf race, I now have new projects in hand: powerboat racing, promotion of art exhibitions, yachting in Tunisia, Pozzallo again – enough to keep me busy for today. As for tomorrow? What will be will be.”