Fekruna, the Maltese translation for turtle, a Beneteau Oceanis 411 Celebration skippered by Kevin Dingli won the sixth edition of the BOV Phoenician Experience the 300Km yacht rally between Malta-Lampedusa and El Kantaoui in Tunisia.
The fleet of participants experienced fairly rough seas particularly on the Lampedusa – Tunisia leg, where wind speeds of up to 26 knots prevailed, blowing generally from the NW which characterized some fantastic sailing.
Unfortunately these conditions proved too hazardous for Pamas and last year’s winner Water Lily, the two motor yachts on the Rally who got stuck in Lampedusa and eventually retired.
Forty-seven-year-old Kevin Dingli only took up sailing seven years ago and although he has undertaken many offshore voyages, the furthest being to the Greek Ionian Islands, the BOV Phoenician Experience 2007 was his first entry in an offshore ‘event’. His other taste of victory was a second overall at last year’s Beneteau Cup event.
The crew, apart from skipper Kevin, included Tony Tabone, Anton Schembri, Graham Elliott and Amelia Robertson Brown, very regularly crew, but of course some changes are made depending on people’s availability at the time.
Prior the event there was concern amongst participants of the ‘boat people’, an uneasiness which actually resulted in a substantial withdrawal of potential entrants. Where any boats encountered during the Rally?
“Whilst I cannot speak for others, our team was not concerned by this at all. We did not in fact encounter any such boats during the rally, nor did any other participating yacht. We only encountered encouragingly large numbers of sea turtles and dolphins.
In my opinion, the concern was never justified. Boat people are not pirates of the high seas, and I have not read or heard of a single incident wherein a yacht has been boarded or otherwise accosted by these people. Certainly we had no qualms at all in making the return voyage from Tunisia to Malta (via Linosa) alone and unaccompanied, both legs involving night sailing”.
This was also Kevin’s first visit to El Kantaoui, which he depicts as a place with a unique setting.
“Tunisia is a beautiful country, and the Tunisians are most friendly people who evidently have a very high regard for Malta and the Maltese. I must say that the hospitality extended to us from first contact with the Capitanerie over VHF and throughout our sojourn was exemplary and outstanding. In terms of food, Tunisia also has its own local fare (such as brick, and couscous) which must be tried as part of the enriching experience.
“We found the cuisine to be exquisite, and the gala dinner spread out for us by the Tunisian Authorities in El Kantaoui was certainly no exception”, remarked the Rally’s winner.
Talking of welcome and hospitality Rally organisers and all participants were simply spellbound with the Tunisia authorities’ reception – in fact the rally boats were met outside El Kantaoui Marina where they were given instructions on approach and locality of berths. Whilst inside the marina another boat led the way to every participant’s berth with two men assisting yachts in berthing.
“We thoroughly enjoyed our participation, and that has nothing at all to do with our winning the event. Apart from bargaining, or shall I say haggling in the medina of Sousse, we found time to visit the world heritage Roman coliseum at El Jem, which is delightfully preserved; and in sailing on to Jasmine Hammamet we made a point of touring all the noteworthy archaeological sites peppering Carthage.
That really gave added flavour to our Phoenician experience, and in this regard we had the privilege of benefiting from Amelia’s expert knowledge of the subject, quite apart from her sailing skills. Besides, it was really very good for us to brush up again on our French!
“We certainly hope to be on the starting line again at the next edition of this most commendable event”, affirmed skipper Kevin Dingli.
The full results were:
Best Kept Log Book:
1st Place FEKRUNA (Kevin Dingli), 2d Place Vagabond (Van Den Abeele-Veys), 3rd Place Cahoots (Anthony Demajo)
Most Accurate Log Book
1st Place Wishbone (Herman Baldacchino), 2nd Place Jannic 5 (Malcolm David Beetham),
3rd Place Linga Linga (Alan England)
This year’s edition of the BOV Phoenician Experience was part of a programme of activities held on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Tunisia and Malta. Special guests at the Gala Dinner Presentation night held at Couscus Restaurant in El Kantaoui Marina were the Malta Ambassador to Tunisia Tanya Vella, Raouf Jomni, Director General of the Tunisian National Tourist Office, Foued Daghfous, Director General of Societe D’Etudes et de Developpement de Sousse Nord and Roland Darmanin Kissaun, chairman of the organizing committee.
The BOV Phoenician Experience was sponsored by the Bank of Valletta, title sponsors, and by the Tunisian National Tourist Office (ONTT) and the Tunisian airline Sevenair.