From Press Release – All pictures by Pierrick Contin
The 17th edition of the St Barth Cata Cup started in ideal conditions: a steady 15 knots east wind and 48 teams clearly eager to fight. From the first legs, the atmosphere is set: without any observation round, the favorites immediately take on the match.
On the day’s program, two courses of 8, then 12 miles, particularly contested. “Everyone has the bit in their teeth, as we saw this morning: it’s a good fight at the front,” summed up Henri Demesmaeker (in double with Swede Rasmus Rosengren) after the first round. There is such impatience that the fleet commits a collective early start: Fisrt Substitute displayed, then black flag to calm down the competitors’ enthusiasm.
Colby-Colman strike hard from the start
The very contested first race has been dominated by Aussies Gavin Colby and Kai Colman: “We didn’t make any mistakes and we remained patient. The boat is fast, very fast. We spent a lot of time last year working on the speed, the development of the sails, the settings… And visibly, it works.” A clear warning to their opponents: the duo is in good shape and their machine perfectly tuned.
Demesmaeker – Rosengren overfly the second leg
The second race of the day goes to Henri Demesmaeker (BEL) and Rasmus Rosengren (SWE), impressive in their mastery. The duo wins with more than one minute and a half ahead of the Americans Charles Tomeo and Dalton Tebo, confirming an excellent start. Their regularity (2nd, then 1st) allows them to win the Design Affairs 001 Award of the day. ” We had a great day, with magnificent conditions to sail here in St Barth. It’s our first sailing together but we have a very similar way of navigating and approaching the races. On the water, we try to stay calm and communicate well. We will move forward day after day, round after round, looking for good starts and a nice first edge up close.”
Australian pair Burvill – Puttman impressive for their premiere in St Barth
Very strong, Brett Burvill and Max Puttman take second place in the day’s ranking. A performance for the Bronze medalists of the last F18 Worlds, who were discovering Saint-Barth waters today; a more than successful entry into the playing field.
Boulogne – Marfaing complete the day’s podium
In the third place of this Design Affairs 001 Award, Emmanuel Boulogne and Matthieu Marfaing were able to be daring. “In the first leg, we try to stay on the train. On the second one, we took more risks: despite a poor start, we managed to grab places and the left of the water was favorable to us. Overall, we made good technical and strategic choices, which is very positive for the future.”
Provisional rankings
Detailed rankings can be found here.
To note Design Affairs 001 Award will also reward the first mixed crew: the Belgians Tom Bruyneel and Lieselotte Borghijs and the first Caribbean crew: Turenne Laplace and Noah Turtschi.
A magnificent week in perspective
With such a high level of commitment from this first day, perfect conditions and a sharp international fleet, the St Barth Cata Cup announces an exceptional week, rich in close battles and beautiful sporting stories.