Malta in bid to host Admiral's Cup

The Royal Ocean Racing Club is considering holding the 2005 Admiral's Cup in Malta.

The Royal Malta Yacht Club recently wrote to the Commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, Peter Rutter, asking him to consider Malta as a host country for the 2005 Admiral's Cup.

The response was quite positive, and Mr Rutter thanked the Commodore, Georges Bonello Du Puis (son of Malta's High Commissioner in London) for the RMYC bid, saying he looked forward to having the 2003 races in Ireland and hopefully the 2005 event in Malta.

Last year, for the very first time, the Admiral's Cup was cancelled due to various political and economic reasons.

The RORC listened to what sailors wanted and, for the very first time, the Royal Ocean Racing Club took the Cup to Ireland and in 2003, the Royal St George will be hosting this prestigious event.

The Admiral's Cup is a major yachting competition for national teams made up of three yachts. The event is a series of inshore and offshore sailing races, primarily based at Cowes, Isle of Wight, England, and is held between late July and early August biennially in odd-numbered years, concluding with the Fastnet Race.

The Royal Ocean Racing Club donated the Admiral's Cup in 1957 to encourage foreign yachts to race in British waters.

Since 1957 about 27 countries have been represented as well as one combined Scandinavian team.

The importance of the event soon grew beyond just the competition, with owners commissioning new designs in order to compete successfully in the national trials at which the teams for the Admiral's Cup would be selected. The effect was to push offshore racing into a two-year cycle with design technology being driven by each nation's cup campaign.

With the growth of professionalism in both yachts and crews, the cost of the competition rose rapidly, pricing the event out of the range of all but a few wealthy individuals.

The first team sponsorship occurred in 1987 when the Australian team was named Swan Premium I, II, and III. By 1989, the costs had risen to where a one-year programme for a cup yacht could cost approximately £1 million ($1.5 million).

The Royal Malta Yacht Club recently announced a three-year sponsorship agreement with Rolex SA for the Middle Sea Race.