Les Perles de St Barth is the story of Laurence Thiry’s passion for Tahitian pearls which she carefully selects to give a unique character to each of her creations. Laurence transposes this passion into her love for the sea and the island of St-Barth. That is why she is involved in sailing through the St Barth Cata Cup and her Figaro. After all, there is no better showcase for highlighting all the richness of the West Indies than the sails of a boat!

A longstanding hosting partner, Perles de St Barth will be a « Gold medal » partner of the 2015 edition winning crew Patrick Demesmaeker and Olivier Gagliani, better known as « 3 pommes ».

We took the opportunity to speak with the native of Belgium about her passion for sailing and her love of St-Barth.

Tell us about the relationship between La Solitaire Éric Bompard – Le Figaro 2016 and Les Perles de St Barth

I met Arthur Pratt at the arrival of the transatlantic AG2R in 2016. We both have a passion for the West Indies - St-Barth more specifically - and we wanted to share this common passion through sailing. Les Perles de St Barth became a partner of Arthur for the first time on La Solitaire 2016. I loved the spirit of collaboration inherent to sailing. It is for this reason that I renewed my partnership with Arthur and decided to support Gildas Mahé on the Solitaire Urgo Le Figaro 2017. Gildas has many years of experience in ocean racing whereas Arthur has three and I see a great sharing opportunity between the two.

As a resident of St-Barth, why was it important for you to get involved in La Solitaire ?

I felt there was an interesting connection to be made between La Solitaire Urgo Le Figaro and the island of St-Barth, in particular because there is one leg of the race in Concarneau and next year competitors will be sailing from Concarneau to St-Barth in the Transat AG2R 2018. I am also happy and proud that the Senator of the Island Michel Magras accepted to be the godfather of our boat. While in Concarneau for the start of the third and fourth legs of La Solitaire, I have witnessed the excitement for the island of St-Barth through the gratitude of the people that I have met.

You are « Gold medal » partner of the 2015 winning crew of the St Barth Cata Cup. Was it important to you to sponsor a boat from Belgium ?  

Olivier and Patrick have become friends thanks to the hosting on the Cata Cup. This new type of Gold medal partnership allows you to choose your winning crew and I am happy to support Oliver and Patrick’s great performance and proud to have my company’s name on their boat. The St Barth Cata Cup is a wonderful event for the island and one with great international appeal.

What do you like about your partnership with the St Barth Cata Cup?

The St Barth Cata Cup is rich in contacts. Les Perles de St Barth is very well represented and this allows me to meet loyal pearl collectors.  We also have the chance to be on the starting line, see the accurate handling of F18 boats from upclose, witness the conversations between sailors at the arrival and enjoy lively evenings. I just love all of the good vibes and positive energy of the event !