Legendary Mitch Booth to compete in St-Barth Cata Cup 2016

by Dominique Ladouceur on 28 Sep 2016 The sailing season is already well under way and now it’s the St Barth Cata Cup organization’s turn to get ready to welcome sailors from around the world for its ninth edition. Sixty teams have already confirmed they will be competing in the event, which runs from November 16 to 20, 2016.

Belgians Patrick Demesmaecker and Olivier Gagliani were the victors in last year’s event, and organizers expect another hotly disputed regatta in St. Jean Bay this year. In addition, the participation of the legendary Mitch Booth will definitely ramp up the excitement on the water! Booth has an impressive track record. He has sailed on just about every type of craft and won dozens of world and national championships, in addition to two Olympic medals on Tornado in 1992 and 1996. In 40 years of sailing, Booth has never had the opportunity to compete in the St Barth Cata Cup even though he is very familiar with the F18.

'Each time I have raced in St Barth it’s been on big boats and I often think how nice it would be to race on a sports Cat. Now I get the chance and really looking forward to some action racing. I know conditions can be hard sometimes and the challenge to race against some of the best Cat sailors in the World will be fun. I have not been on trapeze since last July when I raced with my son Ruben at the Hobie Wild Cat Worlds in Garda, Italy which we won.'

As a triple world champion, Booth is no stranger to the F18. For this edition, he will be joined by Andy Dinsdale, a regular on the waters around St Barth.

The enthusiasm continues

The St Barth Cata Cup continues to have the wind in its sails on the eve of the ninth edition. In the early years, the regatta attracted primarily sailors from the US and Europe that the organizers met at other regattas. Gradually, the pool of teams has expanded so that today, it attracts sailors from Canada and South America.

“We’re always pleasantly surprised to see that after nine years there is still so much enthusiasm for the event. The registration opens six months before the race, and spots are still highly coveted. We owe the success of the St Barth Cata Cup to all the volunteers and partners who put their trust in us, support us and help us make the regatta better than ever,” explains Jeff Lédée, one of the event’s initiators.