Not Much Wind But Lots Of Fun!

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.

Down To The Wire 

Same point of view for the Spaniard’s principal rival. “The buzzword of the day was finesse, finesse, finesse! Concentration was super important to maintain speed. The slightest lack of attention and we quickly lost the flow of the boat. With “Trois Pommes,” that happened a few times but we managed not to get upset. At the finish line, we were right there, just a hair away!” points out Patrick Demesmaeker, with his usual good humor, and determined to challenge the new class leaders as much as possible this week. “Frankly, our nerves were really put to the test today. At the end of the day, it wasn’t a matter of centimeters, but only a few millimeters,” adds his teammate, clearly a bit rusty after a year not sailing on the F18. “We did well. After battling for a while with Charles Tomeo and Dalton Tebo (Avant Toi), who finally made a small mistake by pushing a little too hard into the Bay of Saint Jean, we managed to catch up with the leaders. We probably should have stayed more in line with them on the last spinnaker tack, so as not to be covered by them in order to win, but we're happy with our race all the same,” adds Olivier Gagliani, who was certainly not the only one smiling on his return to shore on Thursday.

A Lucky Finish

Australian Gavin Colby, a true legend on the F18 circuit, was also happy that they were able to complete one race, as well as get his bearings in West Indian waters. “We were lucky to finally be able to sail as the weather was being capricious, but we had a great race. We really had to keep our eyes open for every little ripple on the water and every little wave, as the slightest little mistake was costly, especially at the end, when the wind really started to drop. As a result, it turned out to be very interesting, as it often is in light wind. We're hoping that tomorrow, luck will be on our side once more, as conditions are predicted to be very erratic again,” concludes Gavin Colby. Indeed, it promises to be a tricky day, but as the race committee has proven, even when all the elements are not perfectly in sync, they are capable of working miracles!

Friday, November 22, Schedule :

• 9:30am - Race “EDEN ROCK VILLA RENTAL” Prize
• 7:30pm – Results of “EDEN ROCK VILLA RENTAL” Prize
• Dinner at Gypsea Beach restaurant
• 9:30pm – Free concert open to the public at Gypsea Beach with the band NIB

Résults

• Results of the day