Matthew Flores is diving into the world of sailing!

This week’s UMplugged features Malta’s rising sailing talent Matthew Flores, a UM student of just 20 years old who has accomplished so much through his passion for sailing.

He started practising the sport at just eight years old, but has never looked back and has improved on his skill massively, since then.

That love for sports has kept growing over the last 10+ years, and he is now a student-athlete at the Institute for Physical Education & Sport.

Here are just some of his most recent achievements in the world of sailing:

• In December 2023, he won the prestigious ILCA 6 Sailor of the Year Award, after a strong showing at the Malta Optimist Dinghy and Laser Class Associations’ Regatta.
• Matthew competed in the 2024 EurILCA U21 European Championship (Pollensa, Spain), where he secured a personal best by reaching the Gold fleet and finishing 44th out of 137 participants.
• In November 2025, Matthew was crowned National Champion in the ILCA 7 class at the Malta Dinghy National Championships.

Watch above to see how IPES has been supporting Matthew in his endeavours!