Saint-Barth Cata Cup: A 12th edition full of twists and turns

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The Saint-Barth Cata Cup had its epilogue last Sunday, at the end of a competition which will have offered its share of surprises and developments. Finally, the pair Jean-Christophe Mourniac and Antoine Rucard wins the 12nd edition of this nautical event which has enjoyed increasing success over the years. Overview of the four days of regatta.

On Thursday, November 21, the sixty crews started the competition with a westerly wind blowing at around 15 knots. Weather conditions that sometimes upset the game and benefited some, like the duo Cruz Gonzalez Smith and Mariano Heuser, the two Argentines who ran on Architectonik. The latter showed good consistency and logically won the first test and finished 4th in the second race. They thus finish in 1st place in the provisional general classification, and suddenly win the "Design Affairs-001" prize.

In 2nd position, we find Jean-Christophe Mourniac and Antoine Rucard on Eden Rock Villa Rental, followed by John Tomko and Jonathan Atwood on Boglioni.

On the second day of competition, the crews set off at 2:11 am for a fifteen-mile race between the bay of Saint-Jean and Coco Island, off the cove of Grande Saline. A north-northeast breeze, between 00 and 7 knots, forced the crews to demonstrate tactics and skill. Jean-Christophe Mourniac and Antoine Rucard come out of the game and win after a hard fight against the Belgians Patrick Demesmaeker and Olivier Gagliani, defending champions. The winners also grab the "Eden Rock Villa Rental" prize. Argentines Cruz Gonzalez Smith and Mariano Heuser, despite their 14rd place of the day, keep 3st place in the provisional general.

Saturday morning, 3rd day of competition, a race off the bay of Saint-Jean, then a tour of the island, with a coefficient of 2, offered the possibility of shaking up the hierarchy established at the end of the three 1st rounds. By finishing 6th, Cruz Gonzalez Smith and Mariano Heuser are the big losers of this day. The Argentines let Mourniac and Rucard take 1st place, and fall back to 3rd in the provisional general, while Gurvan Bontemps and Benjamin Amiot, on Eden Rock, funds a jump from 7th to 2nd place, after a remarkable double victory. This allows them to win the “Saint-Barth Assurances - Allianz” prize.

For the 4th and last day of the Saint-Barth Cata Cup, nothing was played and 4 teams could still claim the highest step. At the end of the 1st round, the pair Gurvan Bontemps and Benjamin Amiot are tied on points with Jean-Christophe Mourniac and Antoine Rucard, after their victory in the 6th race. The tension went up a notch before the sending of the 7th and last round, especially as Cruz Gonzalez Smith and Mariano Heuser, as well as the Toulonnais Orion and Antoine Martin, on Mext Cardio, remained in ambush. But the Mourniac and Rucard crew, leader of the general, did not let themselves be told and by winning this race retains the first place, to finish this 12th edition by climbing on the highest step of the podium. _RM

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