Martinique Cata Raid: The stage of the day for Ravi Parent and Léna Weisskichel, the coronation for Victorien Erussard and Fred Moreau.

The town of Le Robert played host to the final round of the tenth edition of the Martinique Cata Raid on Saturday. This morning, the race committee listened to the tiredness of the fleet and adapted the course accordingly: a long upwind leg to reach Lou Garou, a descent to wind round ilet à Eau, two short laps and then off....

While for two categories, F16 and Wingfoil, the die was cast for the overall classification, a little suspense continued to hang over the F18s. With these ultra-fast catamarans, everything can happen very quickly. With the gaps ultimately small, sometimes all it takes is a small navigation error or a desalination to call into question all your certainties. Victorien Erussard and Fred Moreau, the overall leaders, had a bitter experience of this this morning when they refused to starboard, which could have cost them dearly! By the time they had repaired, their direct rivals were flying away, while they were struggling to get back into the race. The Martinique Cata Raid is always played out on a knife-edge. At the end of the first lap, the highly international crew of Ravi Parent and Lena Weisskichel (American/German) took definitive control of the race. Behind them, three boats (Socoveam Anmizi, Stickerman French Caribbean and Cirrus MMSailing) are battling it out for the top spots. Nico's Nicolas Gillet and Nicolas Poix (Socoveam - Anmizi) took second place in the leg ahead of Gurvan Bontemps and Benjamin Amiot (Stickerman - FrenchCaribbean).
Despite a scare at the start of the race, Victorien Erussard and Fred Moreau (Energy Observer) finished the race in 6th position and took the coveted title in this tenth edition of the Martinique Cata Raid. It's a reward for their tenacity and consistency, with three wins from 6 legs.
Gurvan Bontemps and Benjamin Amiot (Stickerman - French Caribbean) may be satisfied with second place, but they are bound to have a few regrets after their great breakaway on the third stage of this raid, which could have won them the title.

Matthieu Marfaing and Bastiaan Tentij (Cirrus MMSailing) rounded off the podium with a proud finish in such a hotly contested event.

We're already used to seeing them at the front of the field: in the F16 class, Thomas Proust and Lou Berthomieu once again took fifth place overall, winning the day's stage and the overall with 5 victories from 6 rounds. Lou admits that he has found new levers to go faster upwind and compete even more with their ‘elders’. Their runners-up, Yohan Debauque and Léo Maurin, did not disappoint either: second in the heat and 11th on the line. Théa Lubac and Lorcan Johnson rounded off the day's podium, a carbon copy of the overall result.

In the wingfoil category, Oscar Leclair had a crack at the podium for the day, winning 6 of the 6 heats he contested, taking the overall victory and having a great time.

Alan Fedit, who came second overall, also had a great time in this event with its unusual format for the discipline. Anthony Smith finished third in the category.

So it looks like the trial is over for the riders who came to the Martinique Cata Raid as a test this year!

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They said : 

Ravi Parent and Lena Weisskichel - Winners of the day's stage
‘We've gained a lot of experience here. I (Ravi) had a bit of trouble getting into the race because I'd just come back from a competition, so it took me a day to get into the swing of things. We've also made a lot of progress as a crew, which is very positive. What's great here is the variety of conditions, wind and sea, we're reaching, it's very motivating and it's a change from the constructed courses. The race has also put us in some difficult situations, and we're learning a lot from them: stay united, stay confident, have fun on the water and keep pushing. That's all we need for the Worlds, and it's very beneficial! We know we can stay calm and focused.

Léna: This victory is a great way to end the week. I was quite happy not to have to do the reaching that we'd planned for initially, even though we did get some big waves! We did exactly what we needed to do, we're happy and yes, we hope to be back!

F18 Victorien Erussard - Fred Moreau (Energy Observer) - Overall winners F18
Fred: This is my fourth time taking part, and I've finished second three times. I said last year that I'd have to come back to win it. Now I'm going to have to come back next year to defend the title! It's been a great week, but it was a bit tough at the end, and we had our worst round today: the chase position wasn't easy to manage. For example, today we made a big mistake which we put right, but we found ourselves in the middle of the fleet having to deal with crossings that we weren't really used to managing, with our foot on the brake a bit. After one lap we were already 3 minutes behind Gurvan, and we'd eaten up half our capital. We told ourselves it wasn't all for nothing. We made a very, very good tack to Lou Garou on the second lap, which put us back in touch. We finished 6th, which was our worst race, but we still retained the title!
It's been a really intense 6 days of racing, and we're pretty happy to see it come to an end. It's a bit hot coming here when we haven't really started our preparation. We're exhausted but really delighted with this edition, which was the hardest for me (of the 4 I've done). And yet, strangely enough, we were just thinking last night that it's easier to recover when you win. Frankly, it's great to win this edition, where we've done it all, with great conditions and top-notch organisation. We're really delighted with this week.

Victorien: It's my first time, so obviously I'm very happy. I'd never done a tour of Martinique before. The format is really perfect: the size of the island, the relief, the variations in conditions, the landscapes - it's magnificent and superbly suited to a major raid. The event deserves to get bigger and stronger. It's great preparation for the season ahead: it gets us into the swing of things. We're almost like spoilt children. I particularly appreciated the work of the organisers, the volunteers and their kindness. We really need events like this on the international and French F18 circuit.

Thomas Proust and Lou Berthomieu (Girafa&Criqueto) Overall F16 winners
This victory is a great satisfaction. We didn't come here to take second place either! We had a great race today with a lot of desire!  We found two or three keys on the boat to make it work in the waves and stay in contact with the F18s upwind.  Today we didn't leave the F18s out of the race at all, so that's great. We just made a little mistake at the end, but that spiced things up a bit in the sense that we were side by side right up to the finish; it made it a bit more of a challenge! Our aim was to finish on the podium overall in one heat, but that's a bit complicated, as F18s go fast! But we're not far off. In any case, it was great to be able to play with them!
It was great, but it's too short. Next year, we'll come earlier to make the most of the island. We'll be back... maybe in an F18, who knows? Even if we have to eat a bit first ;-) We've really enjoyed it, the people are friendly and it's really nice for us to have a regatta with no pressure and nothing at stake. Coming here, sailing in the warmth, it's a really good break, it gives you a good boost and recharges your batteries, it's great!

Oscar Leclair - Overall Wing winner
It's interesting to have a ranking based on time, which you never have in wingfoil. We had all kinds of conditions: waves, flat water, light winds. It was a real adventure to sail around Martinique with its incredible scenery. For me it's very beneficial, it's a good way to get back into training between two seasons. So it was the perfect event to get me back in the water.
We had a great time, and it was also really cool to sail with the catamarans. It was a great test year, and it's very promising for the coming years