From Martinique Cata Raid 2025 Press Release #8
All pictures by Pierrick Contin
Le Robert city hosted the final round of the tenth edition of the Martinique Cata Raid on Saturday 1st February 2025. In the 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….
In the morning of the last racing day, a little suspense continued to hang over the fleet. 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 capsize 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 internation al 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) can 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.
They said:
Ravi Parent & Lena Weisskichel – Last leg Winners
Ravi: “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 st ay 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!”
Victorien Erussard & Fred Moreau Energy Observer – Overall winners
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 isla nd, 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.”
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.”