The future of Malta’s sailing industry has been once again thrown into uncertainty following a recent court decision ordering the Royal Malta Yacht Club to vacate part of the premises where it hosts the children’s sailing school and the Rolex Middlesea Race at Ta' Xbiex.
“This area is the heart and future of the yacht club. The area is used by the sailing school and they bring youth back into sailing and to the club,” RMYC committee member Georges Bonello du Puis said, adding that the club was seeking legal advice on the way forward.
The area is vital to the club’s daily sailing school in summer and even more vital to the Rolex Middle Sea Race in winter. Foreign crews use the area to prepare for the race.
“It’s definitely been a saga and I can’t even believe we’re still at it till today – 20 years plus and here we are still fighting legal battles. The sailing school, the Rolex Middle Sea Race, our members… we deserve better,” Bonello du Puis said.
Parents of children who attend the sailing school have expressed their concern over the court decision.
“The children are upset about this. My son told me: mummy what shall we do if the club is going to close?” says Doreen Buttigieg.
Her son Kyran Turner Buttigieg, 12, has been attending the Ta’ Xbiex school since he was seven years old.
“This is really important for these children. Apart from learning to sail, my son is learning important life skills, like how to take a decision quickly and under pressure. He tells me that when he’s at sea he feels free,” she says.
Gordon Bugeja’s seven-year-old son just started attending the school and loves it.
“Seeing the smile in his eyes, even behind the [coronavirus] mask, when he is coming back from sea is priceless,” he says.
Bugeja has been an active member of the club for some 15 years, having taken part in 15 Middle Sea Races and won one.
“I started when I was about 21 and I wanted to ensure my son starts off learning the right things immediately. He has seen me sail since he was one and wanted to be able to do it. He is learning in an environment where he is safe and having lots of fun. This is priceless. It would be so sad to lose it.”
The saga dates back almost 20 years. Until 2003, the RMYC was located at the majestic Fort Manoel, located on Manoel Island, where it had been since the early 1970s.
But it had to move out when the club premises were taken over by the Midi consortium, to develop Manoel Island and Tignè.
For many years the fate of the club was uncertain. Then, in September 2009, following nine years of negotiations, the club signed a lease agreement with the government to relocate the yachting hub to a building formerly used by the Malta Maritime Authority. The site in Ta' Xbiex was previously used for border control and Customs operations that were no longer carried out following Malta's accession to Schengen.
As part of the same government agreement, the club was also given an area on the waterfront area, now known as the lido, that is used as the sailing school and other activities including the Rolex Middle Sea Race.
Back then the lido area was abandoned and derelict. It had previously been given to the Malta Playing Fields Association that, however, left it unused.
This week the club was ordered to vacate the lido after the Malta Playing Fields Association filed a case arguing that, in 2002, it was given a 49-year emphyteusis by the government that then expropriated the land in 2008 and handed to the yacht club.
Meanwhile, the association contested the validity of the expropriation order and won its case in October 2015 when the court had ruled that the expropriation was not necessary in the public interest. In light of that decision, the court declared that the RMYC had no title over the property and was to vacate it.
In a letter to its members, the club said it always acted in good faith having been granted the premises by legal title from the government. The club said it is now seeking legal advice and will continue to pursue every legal avenue to protect the interest of the club.
Mark Napier, a club member, added: “The club is aware that the government has tried on several occasions to approach the MPFA to find an amicable solution, which approach was refused.”