Martinique Cata Raid: Victorien Erussard and Fred Moreau (Energy Observer), winners of today's leg between Schoelcher and Le Marin.

At the start in Schoelcher this morning, the competitors were beginning to feel a little tired, but nothing could dampen their enthusiasm when it came to going sailing. There's a big menu on offer though, with almost 30 miles to cover to reach the town of Le Marin, which is hosting the fleet for 2 consecutive days. As usual on the Martinique Cata Raid, the day was full of twists and turns, and the overall rankings are likely to see a few upsets

The sailors didn't have time to rest on this third leg either: a favourable start to port led to some tricky dodges, a tricky downwind marker, and a long, long upwind leg which set a frantic pace with plenty of manoeuvres. Will they have remembered to salute Her Majesty's Ship Diamon Rock? Nothing is less certain, as our sailors had such a hard time knitting in the crazy channel.

For a long time, it looked like the race had been won by the World and European Champion in the discipline, Ravi Parent, accompanied by Lena Weisskichel. But their pursuers were stubborn and gave their all to catch up with the leaders. Victorien Erussard and Fred Moreau (Energy Observer) took another stage win thanks to their excellent upwind speed.

In the F16 category, they predicted yesterday that ‘in a race, anything can happen’; Johan Debauque and Léo Maurin were proved right today as they finally beat the favourites in the F16 category, Thomas Proust and Lou Berthomieu, who were penalised by a navigation error. ‘With an older boat and a less extensive list of achievements, we're really pleased that we didn't give up and that we were able to hold off the champions.

In the wing too, the battle was fierce and the riders also arrived in Le Marin rinsed. Once again, Oscar Leclair beat Alan Fedit. The day's podium was completed by Anthony Smith from Martinique.

Setting an example

José Mirande, the Mayor of Le Marin, who is hosting the Grand Prix du Marin for 3 days, spared no effort. A keen sailor, he sailed the course between Schoelcher and Le Marin in a Hobbie Cat 16: ‘I'm delighted to welcome the catamarans to Le Marin. It was an excellent moment, even though I sailed alone. Even if I'm last among the world's best, I'm among the world's best!

I wanted to set an example; there's no age limit for sailing. I'd like to invite everyone from Martinique to get out on the water and try catamaran sailing, optimist sailing, laser sailing, whatever... I encourage you to get out there!

Solidarity

Whether it's sound advice or the exchange of parts, the Martinique Cata Raid is all about solidarity. The most experienced competitors and the professionals are never reluctant to help out the novices, lend them parts, organise and manage projects late into the night so that their competitors can set off again the next day.

Just yesterday evening, there was a great show of solidarity to help Boris Rohou and Charlotte Dekien (Loustic Supersonic). Having dismasted on Monday, they set off in a race against time to recover a mast, a balsam, sails and rigging. Last night, all the competitors in the F16 category, without exception, stayed on the beach to help them reassemble their rigging!

It's going well after a very long day yesterday,’ confides Charlotte. When we arrived yesterday at 6pm, all our friends, all the F16 racers were there to give us a hand! We were back on the mast in half an hour! We're so happy to be able to continue the regatta: we're back in the game!

Sport, fun and a lot of humanity, that's what we love about the Martinique Cata Raid!

Talent waits for no age!

He fell into the world of sailing at an early age. At 14, Léon Guilbert is the youngest competitor in the Martinique Cata Raid 2025! Registered in wingfoil, the young man already has a huge amount of experience in a wide range of media: ‘I started sailing at the age of 6. I spent three years on a Topaz 14 catamaran, then three years on an Optimist in national and international competitions to learn the basics of racing. And last year, I switched to a centreboard windsurfer (Bic 293D) to do the foil bridge.

I've been winging it for about three years now, just for fun, on Sundays, here and there... and this year, I started competing because my coach set up a section at the sailing club. I already loved it, it's a really nice medium.

I live in Martinique, so yes, knowing the water and the conditions will give me a bit of an advantage. The line-up for the Martinique Wing Adventure is really impressive, but we'll have to wait and see. The aim is to finish all the stages and give it my best shot!

The first race didn't go so well for me because, despite a good start, I blew my wing at La Trinité and had to retire. But yesterday I had a not so good first run and the second was much better!

In the end, I'm feeling pretty good about this long-distance format, I'd prepared well physically so it's fine, I'm getting through it.’

See the Rankings

What they said

Victorien Erussard - Fred Moreau - Energy Observer
We got off to a fairly risky start on port tack and had to play around and slalom between the competitors. As we have a very good upwind speed, we quickly stretched out. 9a played out ashore and we found ourselves in 4th or 5th place with the leaders in the ranking, Gurvan Bontemps and Benjamin Amiot, just ahead of us but not very far away. We knew it was going to be a very safe race and unfortunately for them, they made a mistake on the course! 9a gave us a bit of an advantage because they'd taken 13 minutes yesterday, so it was horrible to be left so far behind!

We were 5th or 6th up to the Diamant, and that's when we said to ourselves: come on, let's not give up; we know we can go fast upwind, we know we're fast. The aim was to eat up the 4 or 5 competitors in front and we sailed really well, we didn't give up a thing.

Frankly, victory is won on physical strength, because we've got the experience! It was a fantastic race! It was a real pleasure!

It's going to be an extremely close match for the rest of the race

Ravi Paren and Lena Weisskichel
There were different parts to this race. At the start with flat seas, a constant wind with variations in direction. With the wind astern, we took options to try and get around the devents. In the end, we managed to get out of the calm and take the lead of the fleet and a bit of a lead. We finally rounded Point Salomon. After Le Diamant, there were still 8 miles to go and we were just trying to survive!

We're really pleased with the way we're progressing as a team. I think we did a good job today, much better than yesterday when we made a lot of mistakes. Tomorrow the idea will be to make even fewer mistakes, control the fleet and repeat the same scenario.

Definitely, we're really enjoying being here on the Martinique Cata Raid, we're having a lot of fun... and a lot of fatigue too ;-)

Yohan Debauque and Léo Maurin - Viper Faster
It was a great raid with spinnaker sailing, upwind sailing... lots and lots of upwind sailing: it was long but to our advantage because our boat (Viper) is more suited to this point of sail. We got off to a good start and our closest rivals Thomas and Lou (Proust/Berthomieu) made a small mistake on the course which cost them a lot but allowed us to get out in front! It was tough because they came back really well and were really on top of things! We pushed the boat to its maximum potential and sailed well. We managed to stay ahead and win the leg: we're really happy! We even got to play with a few F18s, which was great. Frankly, the finish in the Bay of Le Marin, the welcome on the beach, with a concert and our feet in the water, was just great!

As a tribute to Michel Blanc, we said last night: ‘Forget that you don't have a chance, just go for it ! ‘And we did it today! We're proud to have stayed ahead of Lou and Thomas, who have a lot of sailing experience and a boat that performs a little better because it's newer than ours.

Lou Berthomieu and Thomas Proust - Girafa&Criqueto
Quite early on in the course, we unfortunately made a mistake by not passing a buoy on the right side. By the time we got going again, the others were a long way off. We made another great tack under spinnaker. We set off again after a wind shift, trying to regain our speed to catch as many competitors as possible. We set off almost 10 minutes late, but in the end we only had to take one! We really gave it our all on the way back up to Le Marin; it was so cool, but now, tonight, our hands are aching!

Anthony Smith Wing
I've been in pain since the diamond, the harness is tearing my ribs! It was a good race with equipment I wasn't familiar with, but I got to know it during the stage! But it did the job! Frankly, I'm pleased with myself. I managed to claw back a few metres on Alan (Fedit). I even hoped for second place but I ended up dropping out! At least I saved my third place! What's on the programme now? A lot of rest!