Timmy Vassallo won the ILCA 4 and Emily Fenech the ILCA 4 girls as Maltese sailors took podium places across several classes at the 24th Mapfre Euromed International Championships and EurILCA Europa Cup, hosted in Mellieħa by the Malta Young Sailors Club.
Principal Race Officer Bojan Gale ran separate courses for the Optimist and ILCA fleets, sending the ILCAs out to Sikka l-Bajda, where the surfing conditions tested skill and stamina.
Vassallo led ILCA 4 from the opening day and finished comfortably ahead of Cyprus’s Anatoli Zoubovski, with Jonas Micallef three points further back in third. Fenech won the girls’ category ahead of Germany’s Laura Matthiesen and Ireland’s Kate Kenny. In ILCA 6, Britain’s Leo Yates won from Cyprus’s Feodor Zoubovski and the RMYC’s Tomek Vaccaro, while Katrina Micallef edged Lacey Aquilina by one point for third among the women, behind Sophia Debs (USA) and Ema Kuodyte (LTU). Monaco’s Jeremy Moutout overtook Ukraine’s Oskar Madonich on the final day to win ILCA 7.
In the Optimists, BSC’s Andrey Zhakov led the Seniors from start to finish, with Matthias Spiteri (MYSC) climbing to second and Hong Kong’s Margaux Nguyen-Min third. Ethan Kodjaazliev (RMYC) was third in the Cadets, and Tom Zhang (RMYC), Ben Dingli and Mia Agius filled the Beginners’ podium. “We are thrilled to see that after 24 editions of the Euromed International Championships, the event still continues to attract a large fleet to Mellieha, reflecting its enduring appeal on the international sailing calendar,” said MYSC Commodore Christian Bajada.
