The Malta Sailing Federation is the National Authority for the sport of sailing in Malta, as recognised by the International Sailing Federation, the Government of Malta, the Maltese Olympic Committee and the Kunsill Malti ghall-Isport.
The Federation consists of one representative from each sailing club or association – which are obliged to follow the rules imposed by the International Sailing Federation.
The Maltese Federation was set up in the 1970s by a group of sailing enthusiasts who included, among others, Mr Walter Camilleri and the late Capt. Benny Grech. It was then called the Malta Yachting Federation and the first statute was approved in 1975. The statute was modified in 1998,when the title was changed to the Malta Sailing Federation.
Among the duties assumed by the Federation are those of fulfilling its obligations under the ISAF rules pertinent to national authorities, in particular rules dealing with conduct, the interpretation of racing rules and the eligibility of sailors to compete.
The MSF is also committed to fulfil its obligations towards The Maltese Olympic Committee regarding the preparation and coaching of sailors competing in the two main established dinghy classes in Malta – the Laser Class and the Optimist Class.
The Federation also organises the National Champion-ships in September and all local ranking regattas are organised under the auspices of the MSF.
The Malta Sailing Federation receives technical and financial aid from the Maltese Olympic Committee.
The federation’s coaching programmes, as well as the performance of its sailors and coaches, are continuously monitored by the MOC’s director of Sport, and the fitness of its sailors is controlled through regular physical tests carried out by sports scientists in the MOC’s functional diagnostic laboratory. It is through the MOC that the federation’s sailors are able to participate in events such as the Olympic Games, the Mediterranean Games, the Games of The Small States of Europe (GSSE) and the Island Games.
Our young and promising sailors started their training programme for the GSSE in Monaco in October 2005. Over the past year the training has intensified, with the games steadily approaching, and our sailors have been to international events and, through the agreement between the MOC and CONI (the Italian National Olympic Committee), the optimist sailors had a training camp at the Ramla Bay Hotel that was presided over by top Italian Optimist coach Massimo Giogiani together with national coach Jean Paul Fleri Soler.
The Optimist sailors will now be going to Corsica at the end of May to represent Malta in the Island Games. They will be led by Jean Paul Fleri Soler.
Jean Paul has won many honours for our Island and for the sport of sailing, including a Bronze Medal at the GSSE held in Monaco in 1987 and a Gold Medal in 1993 when the GSSE were held in Malta.
Jean Paul was also the coach for the Optimist Team during the GSSE 2003 held in Malta. In those games our sailors did us proud, with Benji Borg winning a Gold Medal and Matthew Fleri Soler a Bronze Medal in the Optimist class.
In addition, two of our sailors in the laser class also won medals: Peter Valentino won a Bronze Medal in the Laser radial and Mario Aquilina won a Gold Medal in the Laser standard.
The coach then was Jerome Mainemare from Spain. Mario also represented Malta at the GSSE in Iceland, where he won a Bronze Medal, and he also was at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and again in Athens in 2004. Mario is now passing on his knowledge and experience to the national Laser team, and is at the helm of the team as it prepares to go to Monaco.
The Laser sailors also benefited from the CONI agreement when the Federazione Vela Italiana sent over Laser coach Giorgia Talucci for a five-day training camp in April.
The Malta Sailing Federation has expressed its thanks to the Maltese Olympic Committee for all the work put into these games and other Olympic events, and is looking forward to future cooperation for the good of the sport of sailing and sport in general.