Press releases
Family Affairs!
If, in France, the world of offshore racing is all abuzz with the upcoming start of the legendary Route du Rhum, on the island of Saint Barthélemy, the members of the St Barth Multihulls Association, are also in full swing. And for good reason, as in less than two weeks the starting gun for the 14th edition of the St.Barth Cata-Cup will resound. Emilie Aubin, Vincent Jordil, Laurence Hourticq, Élodie Ghezzi, and the entire staff for the event, are ready to welcome the first containers filled with F18 catamarans, and put the finishing touches on the final details in order to perfectly host the 58 duos registered to race in the regatta this year. Several of these tandems feature family members who decided to race together, and enjoy the fabulous framework of the event, which has always sailed under the colors of conviviality!
Cédric and Laurent Bader, Bob and Marc Baier, Frédéric and Anne Boc-Ho, Patrick and William Carro, Paulo and Martin Gabella, Michel and Benjamin Mamzer, Jonah and Fenosoa Raveloson… this year, as in the past, there are family-based teams racing in the St.Barth Cata-Cup. If some are brothers, others race as a couple, which is the case for Frédéric and Anne Boc-Ho. Having raced together in the 2010, 2011, 2018, and 2019 editions, these Bretons will be back, hoping to make up for their most recent attempt, which resulting in being forced to abandon during the tour around the island. This greatly impacted their ranking in the overall classification, and deprived them of their hopes to do better than their eighth place in 2011. “Globally, we are more at ease in lighter winds. Once again, we are motivated to fight for a better place in the final rankings, and also present a challenge our son, Arthur, who usually starts slightly faster and has the advantage of being young,” jokes Frédéric, who, racing with Brieuc Mégret last June in the Raid Emeraude, won by just 41 little seconds ahead of…Arthur Boc-Ho and Laëtitia Lefèvre. “Arthur and I sailed together twice in the St.Barth Cata-Cup, in 2012 then in 2013. This is the first time we are going to compete against each other in this event. It will be a great race within the race,” promises the director of Propulsion Sailing.
A Race Within The Race
Same story for Emmanuel Boulogne, who will be competing against his son Jean. “We are often competitors. However, I think that the results are less important for him than for me, but I also think he will have a hard time beating me in Saint Barth this year!” quips the Frenchman, the only sailor in the history of the Cata-Cup to not have missed a single edition of the race since its debut in 2008, the year in which he sailed to victory with Tanguy Kervyn, before racing primarily with Vincent, his twin brother. “The St.Barth Cata-Cup is, for me, THE regatta of the year. I regularly compete in different championships but this is really the challenge that counts more than the others, and it’s this one that represents 100% fun!” notes Boulogne, who will sail on November 16-20 this year in tandem with Mathieu Marfaing, who raced last year with his son Jean.
Having Fun, The DNA Of The Regatta
“After having sailed together regularly for ten years, with, among others, four appearances at the St.Barth Cata-Cup between 2011 and 2016, we have also had quite a few opportunities to confront each other. For the moment, let’s just say I haven’t had much luck, but I desperately want to beat my father!” comments Jean Boulogne, who for the first time will sail in tandem with American Charles Timeo, also a regular at the race. “We met about two weeks ago in Florida, at the F18 worlds. He’s terrific. I think we will have a lot of fun together. We are, in any case, on the same wavelength, as we both impatiently wait all year for the month of November to take part in this regatta!” concludes Jean, who sums up the overall sentiment of the 110 sailors expected on the beach in Saint Jean in just two weeks.
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19/11/2023
While last year's winners Tim Mourniac and Pierre-Yves Durand were assured of first place even before the final day of competition, this year was the opposite, and we had to wait until the very last moment to find out the names of the winners of this 15th St.Barth Cata Cup. So much so, in fact, that victory was initially announced as going to the duo Gurvan Bontemps - Benjamin Amiot (Pixail), before finally being awarded to the duo of Ravi Parent - Nicolas Lovisa (Maxwell & Co for man and woman). At the end of the day, the Americans, who finished in eighth last year on their first appearance in the regatta, beat their rivals by one tiny point, while Argentina's Agustn Krevisky and Nicolas Aragones (Design Affairs OO1) completed the podium in third place.
18/11/2023
After two rather invigorating days of racing, the 56 crews of the St.Barth Cata Cup returned to lighter conditions on Saturday. But lighter doesn't always mean easier. All the crews had to deal with very unstable conditions, both in terms of strength and, above all, direction. In this context, consistency was certainly not easy, but the duos Gurvan Bontemps-Benjamin Amiot (Pixail) and Ravi Parent-Nick Lovisa (Maxwell & Co for man and woman) did remarkably well. The former won the "St Barth Assurances Allianz" Prize, while the latter climbed to first place in the provisional overall rankings. A ranking that continues to be turned upside down due to measurement issues. On Sunday, the final day of competition in this 15th edition, everything will be decided!
17/11/2023
After two great first legs—including the around-the-island race—on Thursday, the 56 crews taking part in the 15th St. Barth Cata Cup enjoyed even sportier conditions on Friday. The result: a few stylistic tricks, a lot of capsizing, and a bit of breakage, but above all, a great battle at every level of the fleet. At the front, however, there were no major surprises. Tim Mourniac and Pierre-Yves Durand (Segeco) won ahead of Henri Demesmaeker and Jeroen Van Leeuwen (Ohana) and then Emeric Dary and Joris Cocaud (Allianz), taking the "EDEN ROCK VILLA RENTAL" prize in the provisional rankings. However, there is a problem with the measurement conformity of the boat supplied to them especially for the regatta by the manufacturer, which led to their disqualification in races 1 and 2. Although this blow is understandably hard to take, the two men have already proved that they are resourceful and intend to continue imposing a hellish pace on their rivals, even if this obviously changes the overall picture considerably.
November,15 2023
After a day devoted to assembling the boats, confirming entries, and final training sessions, the 56 duos taking part in the 15th edition of the St.Barth Cata Cup are getting ready to hit the waves. On Thursday, starting at 9:30 am, they will start the first race of the event, which promises to be lively, with between 15 and 20 knots of east-southeasterly wind forecast for the entire weekend. This promises to be a high-flying regatta, which will certainly not displease the big guns in the series, starting with title holders Tim Mourniac and Pierre-Yves Durand (Segeco), who left nothing but crumbs for their opponents last year, but whom their rivals intend to upset this year!
24 novembre 2023
In less than a month, the 55 teams registered for the 2023 St.Barth Cata-Cup will be battling it out on the waves, with multiple contenders for the ultimate victory. Among them, Tim Mourniac and Pierre-Yves Durand who will be back to defend their title, while other big names from the F18 circuit include Mitch Booth, double Tornado Olympic medalist, as well as Swedish sailor Rasmus Rosengren, winner of the F18 world championships last July. In short, there is plenty to celebrate for the 15th anniversary of this regatta!
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