Zoom on Léo Jordil and Arnaud Camoin

Among the 102 sailors taking part in the 11^th edition of the St.Barth Cata Cup, which set sail on Thursday November 15, there are both professionals and amateurs, athletes from the four corners of the globe. Among the amateurs is Léo Jordil, whose father Vincent is one of the original organizers of the regatta. This year is the first time that Léo’s busy schedule has allowed him to participate in this event, and for his baptism by fire, the Saint Barth native chose Arnaud Camoin as his partner, although they usually sail together on a very different kind of boat, the 15 M JI Tuiga, flagship of the Yacht Club de Monaco. 

It has been over 10 years since Jeff Ledée, Thierry Lhinares and Vincent Jordil, Léo’s dad, created the St.Barth Cata Cup. And yet this is the first time that Léo will participate in the competition. “I left the island at 14 to go to school. I had to finish my studies first; then find time in my professional schedule, which was never the case before this year, usually because of the boat show in Fort Lauderdale. This time, I am here, and I would like to say it’s about time,” jokes the young man. And for his first Cata Cup appearance, he will be racing with his friend, Arnaud Camoin, harbormaster at the Yacht Club de Monaco. They usually sail together on the classic circuit in the Mediterranean aboard Tuiga, a 15 M JI built in 1909. The boat was purchased and entirely restored by Prince Albert of Monaco in the 1990s. “We have raced together on this boat for the past three seasons, with several good results to our credit, as we won the 15 M JI championship in 2015,” notes Arnaud, who will be sailing for the first time this week with his acolyte in Formula 18. “For me, it’s even the first time I have stepped foot on this kind of boat,” adds the sailor from Monaco, who last sailed on a small sport multi-hull (Hobie Cat 16) over 20 years ago. It’s just the opposite for Léo, who regularly sailed on a Prindle 19 then F18 with his father. “The idea for us during this St. Barth Cata Cup, is to sail properly and avoid making mistakes. We know that the conditions will be rough this week and if we manage to finish, we will already be happy. Tuesday, during our training day, we laughed a lot. Our goal is really to have fun, and if it goes well, we are already thinking of coming back next year and doing more races,” concludes Léo Jordil.