ST. BARTHS—Patrick Demesmaeker and Olivier Gagliani from Belgium on “St. Barths Sail Racing Team” emerged overall winners of the four-day 8th St. Barths Cata Cup on Sunday with the French team of Orion Martin and Charles Gate on “St. Barths Assurances-Allianz” placing second, four points adrift.
Another French team, Gurvan Bontemps and Benjamin Amio on “Architectonik”, finished third overall.
The last two races for the Marché U Prize were held Sunday with Gurvan Bontemps and Benjamin Amiot winning the first race and the Argentinian team of Cruz Gonzales Smith and Mariano Heuser on “Lotus Architects” winning the second.
It was the first time in the history of the regatta two teams from Argentina and a team from the United Kingdom was represented. The Argentinians Smith and Heuser finished fifth in the overall standings while their compatriots Juan Faustin and Nicolas Aragones on “Tropical Hotel” finished 12th overall. The UK team (Sam Goodchild and Milena Schoenahl on “Design Affairs”) finished 15th overall.
Among the other high profile names, former winners USA’s John Casey and Colin Page finished sixth overall and Darren Bundock and Carolijn Brouwer on “Emeraude Plage” tenth overall.
St. Martin’s Joris van den Eynde making up part of a Belgian team on “Budget” with Kervyn Tanguy finished a respectable 27th overall.
From the other St. Martin teams Bernard Sillem and Pierre Altier finished in 41st place, Erick Clement and Wilfried Secher 44th place, and Henri Jouan and Dominique Platet 49th place.
This year the international F18 fleet of 55 beach cats had very contrasting wind conditions, starting with the counter clockwise around-the-island race that finished in the dark with some boats having to be towed back when the wind died.
“Last year we had very windy conditions, sometimes forcing us to cancel races, but this year it was exactly the opposite with very light winds,” remarked Race Director Didier Flamme.
The St. Barths Cata Cup continues to be a must-do regatta for amateurs and professional seeking a high level of competition and has earned great respect in a short space of time.
“The success of the F18 class is founded on events such as the Cata Cup,” noted President of the French F18 Association, James Baeckler. “These regattas ensure the success and longevity of the class. Without great races there would be no boats and no happy sailors.”
