2025 Caribbean Multihull Challenge in St. Maarten Day 3
by Caribbean Multihull Challenge 3 Feb 10:55 NZDT
January 29 - February 2, 2025
Day 3 of the Caribbean Multihull Challenge © Laurens Morel
Yesterday marked the beginning of the second half of CMC, where scoreboards are starting to be filled with bullets and show a kind of reality to all participants, revealing leaders and their followers. But in the race toward fun, there is no finish line!
With weather conditions quite like the day before, we knew the gods of sailing would deliver the right materials for a great thrilling sailing day.
Apart from the rally participants, still on a party mood, some racers, although known as resistant, have started to show some fatigue and boats are requiring a bit of maintenance. At CMC, challenge is a daily reality!
Rally Division: Just Another Day in Paradise
Morning light in Anse Marcel looked like a Gauguin painting. A mix of pale green, intense blue and shades of grey after a short shower gifted us with a magic rainbow. Based on the time trial calculation, each multihull would be given a departure time, so that the Committee could expect all yachts to arrive - more or less - at the same time in St Barth later on Saturday.
As promised, we investigated to know more about what happened last night during the party, but it seems the Rally secrets are so well kept that we will never find out. Whatever!
Between 10AM and 10.30AM, participants leaving Anse Marcel in choppy seas had to sail round St Martin, north of Tintamarre. They were expected for a sundowner at Saint Barth Yacht Club in Gustavia.
CSA Race: Strategic sailing, tactical turns
At CMC, every day is a new day! On that third racing day, trained crews are getting familiar with the neighborhood, improving their maneuvers, fine-tuning their trimmings, enhancing their level and upgrading their skillsets! The longer the legs, the bigger gaps become.
Today's route included a direct sail to St Barth, to be left on portside which means tacking and rolling on its windward coast. Then a long downwind sail up north toward Tintamarre, to be left on portside as well, before heading south along Sint Maarten, and, last, make a left turn to target Simpson Bay as the wind was dying a little. Nice journey!
Seasoned sailors will easily understand that such a course requires not only some tactical experience but also a physical commitment. An exercise in which Gunboat 72 LAYLA shined.
"My crew and I are very happy with the results today, but there's still one race to go tomorrow!" stated the owner. Games aren't done yet!
Diam24: If in doubt, go big!
"In such weather, having extra kilos on board can be interesting" shares Pierre Altier, member of CMC Steering Committee, and key to the Diam24 presence in the Caribbean. "Ideal crew weight is 220kilos, but in today's breeze, the heavier was the better" continues CRYBABY's owner and skipper.
Talking about physical condition, sailing a one-design lightweight trimaran can quickly become very demanding. Think about blinking every three seconds to wave salt out of your eyes, constantly moving in or out, fore and aft, up and down on the hull or the trampoline, to balance weight and optimize the righting moment. Think about the communication on board between helmsman, trimmer and number one at the mast foot. Only a perfect coordination allows performance. And when all crew are well trained and experienced what happens? The level gets higher and higher! But boats also start to weaken, and abdominal muscles begin to hurt. Ouch!
After the second race today, one could easily feel from the VHF communications that crews were tiring and boats were suffering: broken rudder, loose batten, etc. At 1PM, only 5 out 9 were still in functioning mode to continue racing, when the Race Committee made a wise decision and said "stop". On the last tack, gennakers were flying downwind, and crews were visibly pushing as hard as they could to grab a couple of precious seconds. A quick look at the scoreboard shows that the podium is almost frozen yet allowing some potential surprises and suspense for tomorrow.
To the question "how was today? Tough or easy?", ANOMALY's skipper, Jan Sotelo, leading the scoreboard, answered in a smile: "easy!"