Jan Rossi has been sailing from a young age. He has clocked an impressive number of sailing hours, having sailed on dinghies, keelboats – he took part in countless local races, nine Rolex Middle Sea Races, gained experience on the J70 fleet and more recently was active on the local SB20 scene.
Jan by profession is a lawyer and forms part of local legal firm Ganado Advocates’ shipping law practice. Only recently he was seconded to a shipping company headquartered in Singapore – where he spent two months there before having to return home earlier than expected due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Whilst in Singapore, Jan rekindled his passion for sailing – something that had been put somewhat on the back burner whilst in Malta. Jan’s recent foray in sailing activities was mostly with the
SB20 Class Malta Association, which happened when he was invited to sail on Robert Ciantar’s Seriously Bonkers. Knowing that he would be travelling to Singapore he made contact with the local Association there. As luck with have it, one of the Singaporean members, participated in the 2019 Rolex Middle Sea Race providing him with an excellent opportunity to make contact in person.
Further luck for Jan, meant that his stay in Singapore coincided with the SB20 Asia Pacific Championships, organised by the SB 20 Association Singapore, in February. One of the participating teams (out of a total of 25) needed a crew member and he jumped on board. In addition to these Championships, Jan joined in the more casual weekend races during January and March. Not one to keep idle, Jan also spent a weekend match racing on Swedish Match 30’s.
Jan, explained that sailing conditions were pretty similar to the conditions experienced here during the summer. Wind was generally light, though verging on pretty shifty – other than the occasional fifteen minute squalls and heavy rain, whilst the sea relatively flat.
Jan explained that he really enjoyed being back on the water. He returned to Malta brimming with enthusiasm and the hope to keep the momentum going. Though, right now this seems to be a tad impossible with the suspension of all sailing events.
Yet, he feels that there is a bright future for the SB20Class. Mostly due to the similarities between the local and Singaporean Association; Both Associations started with a small group of people putting in a lot of hard work and effort..
Yet, with effort and enthusiasm, the Singapore Association – with just a handful of members, was able to generate increased interest in the Class – both in terms of boat numbers on the water, racing and the amount of people supporting the onshore sailing events. Similarly, Malta’s own SB20 Class Association has already achieved a lot since its inception, approximately two years ago, with a full events calendar, a fleet of around eight boats and more and more people joining in.
Jan hopes that this enthusiasm does not wane. Furthermore, he hopes that in the not so distant future, there will be possible collaboration between the two Associations.
Time will tell!