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Henri Demesmaeker (Belgium) and Rasmus Rosengren (Sweden) won the 17th edition of the Saint-Barth Cata Cup on Sunday, November 23, after four days of intense competition on the waters of Saint-Barth. On the local side, Turenne Laplace and Noah Turschi ranked 22nd and were the island's first representatives in the overall standings.
A fleet of 48 F18 catamarans ©Pierrick Contin
If not unbeatable, they were unfailingly consistent throughout the competition. Henri Demesmaeker (Belgium) and Rasmus Rosengren (Sweden) were the most effective skippers in the fleet of 48 F18 catamarans, with three wins and three second places in the eight races contested in the 17th edition of the Saint-Barth Cata Cup. Despite a fourth-place finish in heat 6 and a fifth-place finish in heat 3 (the worst is not counted in the final tally), they managed to keep the vista of their main rivals for overall victory, Tim Mourniac and Pierre-Yves Durand (Segeco Acomalis), in check. Henri Demesmaeker and Rasmus Rosengren (97TP Services) are the overall winners of the Saint-Barth Cata Cup 2025.
"We had to fight to win! "
The Belgian-Swedish pair, racing together for the first time, immediately found their bearings on the waters of Saint-Barth. We lacked a bit of upwind speed at the start of the week, but we were able to build up power, fine-tune our settings and stay consistent," explains Henri Demesmaeker (24). Rasmus is super versatile and very attentive to detail. He's a complete sailor, not only strong in catamarans but also in understanding the race course and race management. "
For Rasmus Rosengren, F18 World Champion in 2023 and skipper of the Swedish boat in the Youth America's Cup, this victory has a very special flavour: "It's my fifth participation here in Saint-Barth, but my first victory. I'm very happy... and a little relieved too! We had to fight hard to win, and we really enjoyed competing against the best. "After all, the field for this 17th edition could not have been tougher, with some of the world's best specialists.
"We're going to be talking about this event all over Australia".
Handicapped by a broken spinnaker halyard in the very first race, Tim Mourniac and Pierre-Yves Durand (Segeco - Acomalis) were slow to find their stride. Last time they took part, they had dominated the competition, scoring a grand slam. We finished in second place after a chaotic week," admits Tim Mourniac. We were far too erratic against Henri and Rasmus, who were very consistent. We didn't really sail at our best, but we enjoyed ourselves on a few legs. "
Rounding out the podium were Australians Brett Burvill and Max Puttman (Le Barthélemy Hôtel), who managed to pick off their glorious compatriots, Gavin Colby and Kai Colman (Super U / U Express Oasis) in the very last heat. The finish was incredible," enthuses Brett Burvill. It's great to be on the podium after such a hard fight. Yesterday on the same course, we made a lot of mistakes. That was a lesson for us. We learned from what we saw yesterday. Every day is a learning day. We're delighted with this result! The organization is incredible: getting all these boats and competitors here, and managing our accommodation in this magical place, is crazy! My hat's off to them. We'll be talking about this event all over Australia. "
Podium of the 17th St Barth Cata Cup: Tim Mourniac, Pierre-Yves Durand (Segeco / Acomalis - 2nd), Henri Demesmaeker, Rasmus Rosengren (97TP Services- 1st), Brett Burvill, Max Puttman (Le Barthélemy Hôtel - 3rd). ©Pierrick Contin
"We hadn't sailed all year! "
As for the local crews, the event was no picnic. Between broken equipment, changing wind conditions and excellent adversity, it wasn't easy to stand out from the crowd. The first Saint-Barth crew in the overall ranking was Turenne Laplace and Noah Turschi (Ti Corail), who finished in 22nd place. We won a few races by being the first in the Caribbean, but we broke up on the windward side of the island on the fourth and found ourselves out of the race," says a disappointed Turenne Laplace. Without the breakage, we would have finished first in the Caribbean. "In the end, the title went to the crew from Martinique, Nicolas Gillet and Nicolas Poix (Cin-Careantilles-Anmizi, 18th).
Nevertheless, Turenne and Noah's performance in this 17th Cata Cup was remarkable. With the exception of the third heat (21st) and that damned 4th race, the duo came 15th, 17th (twice), 16th and 13th in the other heats. We did very well," says Turenne with satisfaction. Especially as we hadn't sailed all year! We only trained 1h30 the day before the race. So it was hard to get a feel for things at first. Especially with an unusual, shifty east-northeast wind. We need to train more often! "With five F18s now on the island, "soon to be six" says Turenne, the navigator hopes to set up regular joint outings. Why not on Saturdays," he says. If we can get three boats out every time, that would be great. To train, keep our hand in and work on automatisms. Because it's not until the third or fourth day that you really feel at home on the boat. "An idea to be explored, no doubt with the help of the Saint-Barth Yacht Club. With one objective in mind: to "titillate" the best in the next edition of the Cata Cup.
Ladies: Liesolette Borghujs, Justine Lelieur, Leanna Grivel, Svenja Pawelczyk, Kathrin Szasz, Lena Weisskichel, Mathilde Lovadina.
The rankings
1st: Henri Demesmaeker and Rasmus Rosengren (97TP Services)
2nd: Tim Mourniac and Pierre-Yves Durand (Segeco - Acomalis)
3rd: Brett Burvill and Max Puttman (Le Barthélemy Hôtel)
...
22nd: Turenne Laplace and Noah Turschi (Ti Corail)
38th: Pascal Marchais and Leanna Grivel (CCDM)
39th: Antonin Sciou and Christophe Maxor (Avis Saint-Barth)
40th: Anthony Magras and Yanis Brin (MIP)
46th: Jonah and Fenesoa Raveloson (Orange Caraïbes)
