From Martinique Cata Raid 2025 Press Release #4
All pictures by Pierrick Contin
A great breakaway for Gurvan Bontemps and Benjamin Amiot
We knew that today’s stage would be extremely tactical, but nobody was disappointed! To win today, you needed a nose for the road and perhaps a bit of luck; for the others, you had to work hard to come back and try to limit the damage! With a 13-minute lead at the finish, Gurvan Bontemps and Benjamin Amiot (Stickerman – French Caribbean) won the race, took the lead overall and were congratulated by all their rivals! Hats off to them!
The second leg of the Martinique Cata Raid, from Le Prêcheur to Schoelcher, required a bit of flair this lunchtime, given the erratic winds and numerous “mistoufles” on this leeward coast.
When the starting signal sounded, a large part of the fleet found themselves stuck, glued and taped together, while a handful of lucky ones made their way out of the zone. For the stragglers, it’s all about self-sacrifice and not getting too worked up, before working hard to catch up with the frontrunners. A number of competitors made remontadas such as Nico’s (Gillet and Poix – Socoveam-Anmizi): “I found it tough” confides Nicolas Gillet, “both morally and physically, because we had to work hard. But Nico did a great job!”
Meanwhile, the leaders were breaking away. Gurvan Bontemps and Benjamin Amiot (Stickerman- French Caribbean) found the perfect position on the water, close to the coast, and caught the magic pressure! “We didn’t waste any time on the bus taking us to Le Prêcheur, we just scouted the area along the coast”, admits Benjamin. This good option quickly proved to be an excellent one, with the duo extending their lead again and again! Not only were they never caught, but they also dealt a crushing blow to all their rivals by crossing the finish line in Schoelcher 13 minutes ahead of Victorien Erussard and Fred Moreau (Energy Observer) and the Nico’s crew who had returned from the devil’s devil!
They said :
Gurvan Bontemps and Benjamin Amiot – Stickerman – French Caribbean
“I don’t think it’s such a big lead. We have to give the runners-up 10 to 12 minutes: that’s great, we’re happy. We’re going to be first overall, we’ve got a few minutes’ lead, but on the Martinique Cata Raid, nothing is ever decided. We know that and we’ve done it enough not to claim victory too soon. We prefer to be in our current position, but there’s still a lot to play for. There are still 4 days to go, and a lot can happen.
We’re all the more pleased because yesterday things didn’t go our way, we were hanging on, we were in the lead after the Perle and with 800 metres to go, the race was slipping away from us, so we’re happy to have found this way out today for the transition. But we know that the Martinique Cata Raid is full of pitfalls and traps, so we’re going to have to stay focused on the next legs”.
Nicolas Gillet Socoveam Anmizi – 3rd of leg 2
“We wanted to head out to sea hoping to find some wind, but in the end we went ashore hoping to get through and found ourselves at the back of the pack. After that, we made it back into the bay of Saint Pierre and we’re sailing really fast! Clearly, we made some bad tactical choices. But after a tack offshore, we made it back! We finished third, which isn’t too bad, as we’re still in the leading pack.
There are some big sailing left. I hope that the leg to Saint Lucia will go ahead, because it’s a leg that suits us well. Tomorrow, we leave for Le Marin with a home finish: we’re going to attack! But the Martinique Cata Raid is long… we didn’t break anything, we’re in good shape, we’re going to rest and tomorrow is another day.
Yes, I found this leg harder than yesterday’s! Yesterday it was our conditions, and we know how to do that. But we found ourselves behind and it was hard to come back. We’ve come a long way back and Nico (Poix – bowman) did a great job today!”