Press Release 2024 #3
In spite of rather pessimistic weather predictions for Thursday, November 21, the organizers of the 16th edition of the St.Barth Cata Cup did everything possible to make the best of light wind. As a result, they didn’t miss the only small window of opportunity of the day, enabling the 53 crews in the competition to complete their first race between Saint Jean Bay and Roche Le Boeuf. It was a particularly tactical leg, which did not rattle the favorites. As proof, Spaniards Pablo Völker and Federico Polimeni (Saint-Barth Assurances) sailed to victory. However, these reigning Formula 18 world champions had their work cut out for them. Under pressure in the final lengths by Belgians Patrick Demesmaeker and Olivier Gagliani (Les Perles de St-Barth), they won by a nose!
“All things considered, we could have very well been playing pétanque today!” says Olivier Gagliani. In fact, with the morning weather forecast, it was far from certain that even one race was possible, but light winds from the East finally allowed the 53 competing teams to complete that one race. Setting out mid-morning, and propelled by 6 to 7 knots of wind, the boats were elbow-to-elbow on a course to the north of the island. With an excellent start to their credit, Pablo Völker and Federico Polimeni lived up to their ambitions. Ahead at the first mark with a comfortable lead, they later ceded a little of that advance to the competition, to the point of having a little scare on the very last tack before the finish line. “Patrick and Olivier came very close to us. We were able to stay in control until the end, but it came down to a nose! Almost a photo finish!” commented the Spanish skipper, who had almost forgotten what it was like to be under pressure, as he had really dominated the Worlds this summer on the Costa Brava. “It was really a great race, but it wasn’t easy. The wind was very light, and we had to really focus in order to take advantage of every ripple or tilt over,” added Pablo Völker, winner of the “Design Affairs-001” Prize.