Orion Martin and Charles Gaté leave do not go unnoticed with their contagious cheerfulness. At the 2015 edition, while no one was expecting them to be at the top (ok maybe the Hobbicat-lovers), there came Orion and Charles with a 2^nd place, closely fought with the winners Patrick and Olivier. We were lucky enough to catch up with them at the begining of their sailing season, still on a « high » from their podium finishes at Eurocat and Nationals in Pornic. 

We took a close look at your Cata Cup standings since 2012. You had a 10th, 8th, 13th and last year, 2^nd place finish. It seems like there was a sudden turning point, how would you explain that?

(Charles) It’s true that we someting just clicked at the last Cata Cup…maybe we were motivated by our Belgian friends who we had within our sight! Seriously, we have been sailing together for 6 years and I think that we have reached a kind of maturity.

Also, we are now sailing with Team St Tropez which really helps us and I think that it allows us to be more prepared for other regattas.

We have also recently changed support and this allowed us to discover new things and sail better. In any case, I think that the fun we have sailing together does not change. We are friends before anything else and that is our biggest strenght !

Regattas (especially St-Barth) are for us pure pleasure. The result is obviously important but having fun on the water is paramount.