Located at the bottom of the funnel of the Strait of Sicily, the Republic of Malta is one of the smallest and most densely populated states in the world, counting around 369,000 inhabitants on the main island alone. Its coast, just 80 km from Sicily, is exposed to frequent mistral winds as well as the more occasional sirocco and, why not, also to swells diffracted by E-NE generated on the Ionian and eastern Mediterranean. If this is not enough to make you understand the surfing potential of the island, you can still consult the Italian legend, rooted in Malta for 4 years, who offers all his experience to surfers or those who want to learn: Valerio Cicconi of www.maltasurfschool.com
Valerio was born and raised in Rome but has long since moved to Malta, where he runs his own surf and sup school. The island's surf scene has been present for a long time but the news of the first surf contest, organised with great success by Valerio Cicconi.
The GT Open 2017 by Cicco achieved great "national" media impact, with double and front pages in the local newspapers of Malta. The Maltese surf competition took place with mistral swells at Ghajn Tuffieha beach that's why the name, north-west of the island. The contest, supported by Rip Curl, saw the participation of 20 surfers from all over the island and also from Gozo, including two Italians.
The beach was stormed for the event, especially during the finals which took place around 2pm. The surf community of Malta during the surf competition peacefully support each other. The finals of the contest offered a great show with enthusiastic cheering from everyone present on the spot: Matthew Miceli Demajo, a very strong local surfer.
Here is the final classification of the 1st Gt Open by Cicco
1 classified MATTHEW MICELI DEMAJO
2nd Ben Martinez
3 Peppi Gauci
We leave you with some shots taken by Tatiana Borisenko, Paul Ellul and Ryu Ben.
Thanks again to myself Valerio Cicconi for organising the first surfing event in the history of Malta!
Find out more about my school in Malta: www.maltasurfschool.com