Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/788859
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 FEBRUARY 2017 53 SAILING ATHLETICS Sport Express Trailers confirms sponsorship to Sailing Regatta Championships Malta Cruising Club New Committee First step to qualify for European and World Championship Competitions FOLLOWING last year's suc- cessful edition of the Malta Optimist Dinghy Association's Regatta, Express Trailers has re- confirmed itself as the official sponsor of this year's edition which is taking place this week- end at Birżebbugia Sailing Club. This weekend's Regatta is one of 8 regattas held annually in Malta and will see Malta's two clubs competing namely Malta Young Sailors Club, Birżebbugia Sailing Club. "The importance of this weekend's Regatta stems from the fact that it's the first step for the winners to qualify for this year's international events namely the European Championships in Bul- garia and the Worlds Champion- ship in Thailand. Maltese sailors in fact have a very intense pro- gram to follow in order to try and repeat last year's success," noted Robert Farrugia Vella, President of the Malta Optimist Dinghy Association. Following last year's regatta, which was also sponsored by Express Trailers, a group of sail- ors participated at a number of important international events including the Country Cup, the World Championships, the Euro- pean Championships and more. "The success for Malta's young participants was unprecedented in fact, in the World Cham- pionship, Victoria Schultheis placed first thus becoming World Champion, in the Euro- pean Championships, Richard Schulthies placed second in the boys' section, Antonia Schulthies placed second in the girls' section and Craig Farrugia Vella placed 7th. Craig Farrugia Vella also placed 2nd in the Country Cup at Garda in Italy," added Mr Far- rugia Vella. Franco Azzopardi, Chairman and CEO of Express Trailers said "we have noted the international success achieved by these Maltese young sailors in last year's championships and this encouraged us to sponsor the 2017 Regatta. As a company we use regular sailings to trans- port our orange trailers to and from mainland Europe and we thought of linking this to this event for young sailors. Their training and the success they are achieving comes from the commitment of their respective clubs, all driven by volunteers who want to see this sport grow bigger. We believe that these young athletes are the future of this sport in Malta and this is why Express Trailers is sup- porting this event," said Franco Azzopardi. This weekend's regatta will see competitions involving seven different f leets namely Optimist, Laser 4.7, Laser Radial, RS Feva, 29ers, Miracles and Mirrors. WILFRED SULTANA FOLLOWING the Malta Cruising Club's Annual Gen- eral Meeting held at Fort St Angelo in mid-January a new Committee has been elected for 2017. This is made up of Wilfred Sultana, as Commodore, and with Austin Calleja and Victor Taliana as Hon Secretary and Hon Treasurer respectively. The Committee also includes Johann J. Cuschieri, Winston Urpani and Brian Darmanin as members. This year's AGM was char- acterised with a touch of his- torical extract where following the Meeting's procedure and election of the new Committee those present were hosted to a guided tour of Fort St Angelo. Meanwhile a programme of events for the first six months of 2017 is being drawn up by the new Committee where be- sides a variety of shore events and activities an appealing set of cruising meetings in local waters as well as to Sicily and beyond are envisaged. Francophones furious over English slogan for Paris Olympic bid GUARDIANS of the French language were up in arms on Friday af- ter the French national Olympic committee adopted an English slo- gan - Made for Sharing - to back France's bid to host the games in 2024. The Academie fran- caise, official custodian of the language of Mo- liere, said it was no bet- ter than a pizza advert. Paris, Los Angeles, and Buda- pest are vying to host the 2024 games, and the French national Olympic committee has said it chose the English slogan to broaden its appeal for the wider world. Another group whose aim is the defence of French usage said the choice was an insult to the French language and proposed instead the rallying cry of "Ven- ez partager! (Come and share!). They said they would lodge an official appeal against adoption of the English slo- gan. The Academie francaise, expressing its disapproval, said the slogan had already been widely used in public- ity campaigns, mainly for selling pizzas and sweets. Bernard Pivot, widely known for defending French culture, said: "French- speaking countries are going to be surprised and indignant that Paris, capital of the franco- phone world, bows down before a language that is not only that of Shakespeare but that of Don- ald Trump."