The Rolex Middle Sea Race and the Euromed Malta Championship are two high profile international sailing events, naturally with different magnitude and character yet they both contribute to the goodwill of Malta as exciting appointments on the annual calendar of sport events and also from the sport tourism aspect.
The Rolex Middle Sea Race (RMSR), now going for its 32nd edition, is a 606 nautical mile classic contested by some of the most competitive maxi and mini-maxis yachts around and crewed by several of the finest professional sailors in the world.
The largest number of entries ever was 78 established in 2008 while George David in 2007 came along on board the 100-foot Maxi Rambler (USA) to establish the course record time which stands at 47 hours, 55 minutes and 3 seconds.
The RMSR is fervently looked upon by any passionate yachtsman as a must do, at least once, race and the presence of yachts hailing from various continents on the event indeed confirms the sense of ambition and esteem that embraces this classic Race indeed acknowledged as ‘Sailing Everest of the Mediterranean’.
Possibly going through the names of past Line Honours winners, and noting their nationalities, confirm the international status of the RMSR. For amongst the countries on this record list one finds those of Bermuda, Australia, USA, Argentina, New Zealand besides others closer to home the like of Holland, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, France, the United Kingdom and Italy.
Another great positive factor enjoyed by the event, organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club, is having Rolex as main sponsor thus being part of the famous Calendar of Rolex yachting events hence sharing an outstanding and exclusive marketing and PR network and global media exposure.
The Euromed Malta Championship is another exciting event, naturally having different magnitude and character to the Rolex Middle Sea Race, yet over its lifespan of 12 editions the event has set and established its appealing characteristics on the international sailing arena.
An event ably ran by its organisers, the Malta Young Sailors Club, presenting Malta’s mild winter weather conditions and the availability of dinghies for charter as plus factors to attract young sailors and their families to Malta for the December event. Euromed is mainly an Optimist Class event, where only sailors under the age of 16 years are eligible to contest in this class racing.
The Malta Championship also gives over-16-year-olds an opportunity to participate and race in either the Laser Class or the RS Feva Class.
Here too there is great pride and satisfaction when securing record participation of some 130 sailors hailing from different nations, the like of Russia, the United Kingdom, Monaco, Israel, San Marino, Denmark, Germany, Rumania, Italy. In view of the young age of some competitors a good number of them are normally accompanied by other members of their families who cheerfully make the days of the Malta event a holiday period too.
Today, sports go beyond the health, leisure and spectacle aspects – it means financial gain to those providing services and facilities to the related events. International participation brings about invaluable marketing and PR exposure to the events concerned as well as to Malta in general as the host destination.
Furthermore the Rolex Middle Sea Race and the Euromed Malta Championship are certainly prime protagonists in the Malta’s Sports Tourism spectrum. Having participants, friends, families, pressmen and other involved personnel in Malta for the events definitely gives substantial financial benefit to the local economy.
Sports has many faces and interpretations. With regards to the two mentioned events there is a high-quality approach and a professional running flair by both organising Clubs whose efforts are recognised and supported by relevant authorities, such as the Malta Tourism Authority and Transport Malta who show strong cooperation and work together to make the events an excellent vehicle to promote Malta.