F18. St Barts Catacup 2023: Win for Parent & Lovisa
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All images Pierrick Contin & Pascal Alemany. More here
St Barts Catacup 2023 Final results
Final day for the St Barts Catacup 2023. One more race completed was enough for Ravi Parent & Nick Lovisa (Nacra Evo) to maintain lead from day 3 and secure the overall win. A consistent performance but no bullets delivered for Parent-Lovisa, a pattern for Ravi’s wins (consistent low scores vs dominant bullet wins).
Second overall for former F18 Worlds title contenders (2014 for ie) Gurvan Bontemps & Benjamin Amiot (Scorpion / SI), who continue to be a super fast team but are not entering Worlds events anymore, maybe they’ll attend Costa Brava 2024? Same situation for Mike Easton & Tripp Burd.
Third overall for Agustin Krevisky & Nico Aragonés, (Scorpion / 1D). The Agies had an early lead with two bullets but a BFD in race #4 reduced their chances to win.
Mention to the Akurra French teams of Mourniac-Durand and Dary-Cocaud who could have finished on the podium but a 2x DSQ on the first races due to an added mandatory weight rule issue relegated their chances for the win.
In terms of equipment, we identified a new set of AIR sails by Manu Boulogne, which were fit in his Cirrus 901. Along Matthieu Marfaing they scored majority of top 10 results, which is a good sign in that talented filled fleet.
This prototype set worked well and looked excellent from the pics published. (see last photo above).
St Bartth Catacup is a limited participants regatta, nevertheless is one of the most toughest regattas in the F18 Class calendar. The beautiful St Barth scenery tends to offer a paradise enjoyable mild F18 ride, but the reality is that races are held around some incredible complicated courses held in +20 knots usually and big waves, specially long extreme reach legs.
It’s not an event for rookie sailors. You need much breeze hours to be able to have a controlled racing experience, and we recommend to take helmets along your equipment.
Once you feel you have experience sailing F18 in harsh conditions, Catacup is an event you need to target to attend.
Next big F18 regatta is the Australian Nats and next year the 2024 Worlds to be held at Ballena Alegre, Costa Brava, Spain.
Top 20, complete list here
Fantastic event! Fully agree that this is not one for the rookie sailors. You need to be comfortable to do long stretches in any direction, including broad reaching, in the big breeze and waves.