Four sailors from the Royal Malta Yacht Club Sailing School competed in the 2024 ILCA Senior European Championships in Athens, which concluded after six challenging days of chasing the wind.

The Club was represented by Matthew Flores, Lara Merten, Katrina Micallef and Tomek Vaccaro and were accompanied by coach Karlis Junaers and Sailcoach founder, Trevor Millar.   All, with the exception of Matthew Flores – who competed in the ILCA 7 Category –  competed in the ILCA 6 Class.

These Championships marked the RMYC’s contingent debut at such a high profile event and for which all performed well.  The ILCA 6 fleet managed to  complete seven races, including a medal race, whilst the ILCA 7 class completed eight races, although no medal race took place. 

“The weather conditions experienced throughout the event posed significant challenges, testing athletes’ patience and resilience as they had to spend long hours on the water, waiting for races to happen”  – Alex Denisuic, RMYC Committee Member.

At the end of the competition, Katrina Micallef finished 49th overall, breaking into the Gold fleet and emerging as one of the youngest and promising participants. Lara Merten finished 105th overall. Unfortunately, whilst she was performing well, she not only encountered issues with her boat but also had to suffer the disappointment of races being abandoned, where her performances were some of her strongest so far.

Meanwhile Tomek Vaccaro secured a 44th placing out of a strong 70-boat fleet in the ILCA 6 Class.  Matthew Flores competed in the ILCA 7 Class and finished 111th out of 140 boats.

The sailors are now back home catching up on their studies whilst Karlis Junaers and Trevor Millar drove back from from Greece to Malta.

The RMYC Sailors’ participation in the 2024 ILCA Senior European Championships was partly funded by SportMalta

Lara Merten and Matthew Flores will be taking part in the U21 European Championships in March. The competition will take place in Pollensa, Spain.