How we started
The Rowing in Malta has a long history. According to Joseph Serracino, it is certain that rowing races have been held at least since the first decades of the 17th Century. In fact, a document available in the archives of the order of Malta, Volume 1184, 333/350 reports a formal request was from a certain Martino Fiteni (possibly from the Noble House of Fiteni – Baron of Budaq) from Cospicua who, in a communication dated 2nd September 1642, together with other persons, requested the grandmaster of the time, Giovanni Paolo Lascaris, to organise a boat race as part of the external celebrations for the village feast. Such as request was granted by the chancellor for this grandmaster, Balliju Nigra Ponte[1] and in the approval, a documented note is said to have remarked that the requested race was similar to that organised for years in Senglea on the 2nd July to celebrate their feast of The Visitation of Our Lady (celebrated in the Church of Porto Salvo). In other words, this document confirms that regatta races were already organised far before this date of 1642.
Historical documents confirm that rowing regattas using fisherman-type boats continued in some form or another to the present day. The centuries old tradition to award cash prizes and linen flags (palju) also continues to this day in Maltese traditional rowing. For example, historian Pietru Pawl Castagna (1865, 1890), in his voluminous encyclopaedic treatise on Malta and „Malteseness‟ (Malta bil Gzejer Tahha u li Ghadda Min Ghaliha) refers to the Victory regatta as having four different events: the four-oared fishing boats, the two-oared, four-oared passenger boats, and the four-oared caiques. Besides the „palju‟, cash prizes were given to the first three winners in each category. According to Castagna, these four races were keenly contested for the winning „palju‟.
Traditional rowing regattas have continued to this date with the format and regulations being heavily guarded through appropriate regulations and legislation. For example, in August 1975, the Malta Government Gazette published a set of rules for the races to be held in September, including detailed technical specifications for the boats to be used in competition. Most of these regulations, including a set of specifications for the boats, are still in use nowadays although some minor technical regulations (e.g. those related to permitted distances for overtaking) were updated over the years.
Where we are now
The journey toward “opening up” Malta’s rowing scene and embracing the international rowing community began around 2015, during the first term of Prof. Joseph Grima’s presidency of Għaqda Regatta Nazzjonali u Qdif Ieħor, the predecessor of the Malta Rowing Federation.
This shift started with a landmark decision on 18 May 2015, when the Maltese association resolved to enrol Malta into FISA (the International Rowing Federation). That same year, Malta sent its first-ever crew to an international rowing training camp and regatta—the Memorial D’Aloja in Italy—and hosted the first ever Malta National Indoor Rowing Championships. The event was made possible through the support of the late Hon. Robert Arrigo, who sponsored the venue and competition. The championships were a resounding success and have since become an annual tradition.
Important structural developments soon followed, including the establishment of two new clubs:
- The University of Malta Rowing Club in 2015, led by its first president, Steve Said (current Treasurer of the Federation), then a student at the University of Malta and Mark Said Camilleri as secretary.
- The Siġġiewi Rowing Club in 2016, led by its first president, Aaron Farrugia, then president of the local football club and local councillor Gillian Farrugia Pace as secretary. Prof. Grima, who hails from Siġġiewi, was given the role of Honorary President.
From an administrative perspective, the inclusion of new clubs required significant changes to the association’s statutes, marking an important step toward a more inclusive rowing framework in Malta.
Over the next decade, progress continued—steady but constant—with Maltese rowers participating in a growing number of international events, particularly in indoor rowing, coastal rowing, and para rowing. This exposure inspired local athletes to dream bigger and train harder, and momentum began to build for further evolution within Maltese rowing.
It gradually became clear that a formal separation was needed between traditional rowing (“regatta”) and other, internationally recognized forms of rowing. This required another major overhaul of the statutes and the association’s structure.
On 30 June 2025, Maltese rowing reached a historic milestone with the formal establishment of Regatta Malta, a new, independent association dedicated exclusively to traditional rowing. This pivotal moment marked the birth of the modern Malta Rowing Federation—an organization that honours its traditional roots while embracing the broader, international vision of rowing as practiced worldwide in the 21st century.
Malta Rowing Federation 