One of the Mediterranean’s oldest and most exciting sailing events, the Malta–Syracuse Race, will be held this Saturday.
The race was first organised in 1952 by Captain Illingworth of the Royal British Navy. It covers an 84-mile course between Italy and Malta. The event is co-hosted by the Royal Malta Yacht Club and Lega Navale Italiana (Siracusa branch), and the starting point changes each year. This year, the race will begin in Syracuse.
The race starts at 10:30am on Saturday, with the fleet heading towards Valletta, sailing through a challenging and ever-changing part of the Mediterranean. The weather conditions often change quickly, making it a real test of skill for all crews involved.
The Royal Malta Yacht Club will be strongly represented, with several regular participants taking part. These include Alecto (Charles Cronin), Calypso 3.0 (Seb Ripard), Dimm (Kevin Pisani Zammit), Inspiration (Godwin Zammit), and Ton Ton Laferla Insurance (Jonathan Gambin).
Club member Oliviero Emaldi’s boat, Safran Rouge, will be racing under a Sicilian club, but will have several Maltese sailors on board, showing the close link between the Maltese and Sicilian sailing communities.
Many of these sailors are highly experienced. For example, Godwin Zammit has raced in about 17 editions of this event, including 10 times on his current boat, Inspiration. Maltese boats have done well in recent years – Calypso won the ORC Class overall in 2023, and Ton Ton Laferla Insurance came second in the IRC Division in 2021.
The Malta–Syracuse Race is not only about racing skill – it also celebrates the tradition and community spirit of sailing. Several awards will be presented at the Royal Malta Yacht Club during the prize-giving ceremony on Sunday evening.
Fans can follow the race live with the Race Tracking tool on the Club’s website:
https://rmyc.org/races/2025-65th-malta-syracuse-race/
