The inaugural championship concluded on Saturday, 17th October, after ten races in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, with ten different race winners underlining the competitiveness of the growing international one-design fleet.
Eker Süzme entered the final day with a 17-point advantage but faced a difficult conclusion to the regatta, having already used its discard on a 21st-place finish in race five.
Two final races were completed in challenging light-wind conditions after the fleet returned to the water at sunrise. Ninth and tenth places proved sufficient for Eker Süzme to finish on 41 points and secure the championship ahead of Vittorio Lombardi Stronati's Django on 58.
Marcus Brennecke's Hatari, winner of Wednesday's opening race, completed the podium on 63 points.
Django Climbs to Second as Stig Wins Penultimate Race
The final day brought significant changes to the leaderboard, particularly behind the Turkish champions.
Django started Saturday in fourth, fell to 13th in race nine, and recovered to finish second in the final race, moving into the runner-up position overall. Alessandro Rombelli's Stig, which had already secured the Cape 31 Mediterranean Circuit championship, won race nine to finish fourth overall on 69 points.
Guy Gillon's Khumbu, second overnight, slipped to fifth after a difficult final two races, finishing level with Stig on 69 points but losing fourth place on countback. Stig's penultimate-race victory came after a close finish with Kalantis and the Corinthian team Milkwave.
The Mediterranean Circuit title was decided ahead of the Gold Cup, with Stig entering the championship as circuit winner, as Afloat reported on the opening of the 28-boat Saint-Tropez event.
Eker Süzme had built an advantage during Friday's four races, extending its lead to 17 points despite its only major setback of the championship.
Winning Formula – Crew consistency proved decisive for Eker Süzme, whose unchanged team of two years delivered the inaugural Cape 31 Gold Cup title against a record 28-boat international fleet. Photo: Sailing Energy
Ten Different Winners in Ten Gold Cup Races
Andrea Castrucci's Chisum won the final race ahead of Django and Richard Thompson's Black Seal 2, giving the Corinthian entry an outright victory against the full fleet. The result completed an unusual championship statistic: a different winner in each of the ten races.
Hatari, Khumbu, G-Spot, Eker Süzme, Black Seal 2, Gecko d'or, Django, Kalantis, Stig and Chisum shared the race victories.
Black Seal 2 finished sixth overall, followed by Nikolai Burkart's Gecko d'or in seventh, Christian Schwoerer's La Pericolosa in eighth, Kalantis in ninth and Black Battalion in tenth.
Django's Comeback – Vittorio Lombardi Stronati's Django climbed from fourth to second overall on the final day, finishing runner-up on 58 points after taking second place in the championship's concluding race. Photo: Sailing Energy
Hatari owner Marcus Brennecke praised both the race management and the champions.
"It was a great week. We had a very good race officer who, I think, did everything perfectly, and Eker Süzme are well-deserved winners. They sailed very well the whole week, with one bad race, but otherwise very consistent."
Brennecke said his team's two premature starts on the second day made the task harder, but he was satisfied with third place in such a competitive fleet.
Motions Claims Corinthian Gold Cup
Lennard van Oeveren's Motions secured the inaugural Corinthian Gold Cup, finishing on 109 points after leading the division from the second day. Andrea Castrucci's Chisum took second on 121 points, with Outrage by Sériès third on 146.
Ten-Race Thriller – The record 28-boat Cape 31 Gold Cup produced ten different race winners in ten races, highlighting the depth of competition at the inaugural Saint-Tropez championship. Photo: Sailing Energy
Van Oeveren, also chairman of the Cape 31 Mediterranean Circuit Committee, said the fleet's size and standard made the championship particularly rewarding.
"It's amazing to sail with so many boats. Twenty boats is completely different to the 28 we had here, and the level is so high. Every boat is doing an excellent job and sailing very well."
He also highlighted the contribution of Italian sailor Checco Bruni, who joined Motions for the event.
"It was amazing to sail with Checco Bruni at this event. It was his first time on the boat in this fleet, so we all had to get to know each other, but bringing such sailing intelligence and knowledge onto our boat, we learned so much."
Van Oeveren welcomed more Corinthian teams, saying the championship showed amateur crews could compete successfully in the class.
Gold Cup Glory – Ten different race winners across ten races underlined the intensity of the inaugural Cape 31 Gold Cup in Saint-Tropez, where Eker Süzme emerged as champion ahead of Django and Hatari. Photo: Sailing Energy
Crew Consistency Key to Turkish Victory
Eker Süzme owner Ahmet Eker attributed the team's championship success to keeping the same crew together over the past two years.
"We have been sailing together for two years now without any change in the team, and I think this is what helps. We have been getting better and better every race, and it paid off at this event."
He admitted the final race was tense as the Turkish team monitored its nearest challengers.
"We were looking at the boats coming in, Django, Stig and Khumbu, and it was tough. They were very close to us, so we were a little worried in the last race, where we were in a bad spot, but we somehow managed to come back."
Eker congratulated his crew and coach on their performance throughout the championship, which featured a variety of weather conditions over four days.
Turkish Triumph – Ahmet Eker's Eker Süzme celebrates becoming the first Cape 31 Gold Cup champion, securing the title by 17 points after ten races in Saint-Tropez. Photo: Sailing Energy
At the prizegiving, Mediterranean Class Manager Victoria Tomlinson Cheney reflected on the event's development.
"What a week. A year ago the Cape 31 Gold Cup was just an idea, and today we're standing here in Saint-Tropez at the end of the very first one. I'm so proud of what this class has become." She said the ten different winners in ten races demonstrated how closely matched the fleet had become.
Tomlinson Cheney thanked the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez, organiser Adrien Follin, the race committee, officials, measurers and Sailing Energy for their contributions to the inaugural championship.
The first Cape 31 Gold Cup concluded with Eker Süzme as overall champion and Motions as Corinthian winner, following four days of racing involving the largest Cape 31 fleet assembled for the event.
