It is now less than two weeks for the start of the three-destination yacht rally The Phoenician Experience which will take participants over a 300-Km run from Malta to Lampedusa and then on to Tunisia.
Once in Tunisia, the yachts on this fifth edition of the Malta-Tunisia Yacht Rally will be guests of the Port authorities at Port El Kantaoui Marina.
Port El Kantaoui is a genuine ‘garden port’ on the Mediterranean coast and is located near Sousse and just 25 km away from Monastir Airport.
Apart from all the exclusive services typical at an established beautifully appointed 345-yacht international marina, Port El Kantaoui has just about everything one would expect for a family holiday – fine beach, shops, bars, cafes and restaurants and just enough evening entertainment to keep the visitors happy.
This is an essential requisite as one particular characteristic of this Rally is the fact that the event has established itself as a pleasant annual appointment where the family holiday spirit is given more importance than the competitive sailing aspect. In fact while ‘daddy yachtsmen’ are sailing across, a number of wives and kids are flying over to join husbands in what is looked upon as a relaxing family break.
The Port authorities of Port El Kantaoui, through its President Directeur Génèral, Monsieur Foued Daghfous, have confirmed that participants will be given free berthing facilities during their week’s stay in El Kantaoui, besides extending other cordial gestures including a Presentation of Prizes over a Gala Dinner.
This particular Rally, first held in 1997, is the one and only opportunity for Sailing Yachts and Motor Yachts to participate collectively.
On this event, yachts are not judged by their fast performance but by the accuracy of their estimated time for the trip – a Predicted Log Rally.
The spirit of cooperation and solidarity between the two communities is another particular characteristic of this event. This is primarily expressed at high official level where the Ministers of Tourism of Malta and Tunisia have both extended their distinguished patronage, a sound gesture which is then reflected by the personal interest and support of both Mr Naceur Mestiri, Tunisian Ambassador to Malta, as well by that of the Maltese Ambassador in Tunisia, Mr Ives Debarro.
This feeling of collaboration is also present at commercial level. In fact, the main sponsors of the 2005 Malta-Tunisia Yacht Rally are the Bank of Valletta, who also operates a representative office in Tunis, and the Tunisian airline Tuninter. Other support is being extended by the Tunisian National Tourism Office.
Meanwhile a Briefing Party for all participants is being held on Thursday 28 July with the starts of the Rally scheduled for Friday 29 for sailing yachts and Saturday 30 July for motor yachts.