‘ESCAPADE MAJORQUE 2014’: 20 LAGOON CATAMARANS AT CABRERA!

In addition to the locals, such as Fernando and his Lagoon 400, certain crews were courageous enough to brave cold, windy weather conditions for the season, and even came from far away, some from Rosas (over 150 miles away), others from Alicante...

After a first meeting – called ‘Escapade’ – in 2009 at Marseille, a second one on the Ile d’Aix in 2011 (all the participants still fondly remember the Atlantic coast’s oysters!) and some highly appreciated initiatives by the local dealers in Croatia, Canada or Portugal, this year Lagoon opted for the Balearics: “We wanted to give our owners’ meet an international dimension,” explained Joël Jarrijon, CNB/Lagoon’s Marketing and Communications manager, “and the next destination will undoubtedly be Caribbean!” Because although the Mediterranean brings together lots of catamaran enthusiasts, the major part of the fleet of sailing boats on two hulls frequents the West Indies, at least during our winter!

Belgian, French, Spanish ensigns...the international challenge seemed to have been met on the eve of the event, judging by the diversity of flags represented! On the spot, the local dealers, Boja and his nephew...Boja – everyone called him Bojita – looked after the harbor berths and above all, the bookings for the anchorage at Cabrera. Because the archipelago, classified as a natural area, and the high point of our cruise, is rather special: it is out of the question to just turn up and tie up to a buoy without permission.

As for the Lagoon range, the fleet which came together for this ‘Escapade’ was representative of all the models on offer in the catalogue: 380, 39, 400 S2, 450, 52, 560 S2, 620 – all were present, not forgetting the older 410, 440 and 57. On the Saturday morning, the catamaran fleet assembled on the eastern side of Palma bay, to start as a group – to please the photographers. Along the red cliffs of Majorca, after having been timid in the morning, the wind filled in from the south, right on the nose, with a chop as a bonus... Two schools: fans of the ‘iron topsail’ and the others, quite happy to fight to windward. Which just goes to show that cat enthusiasts, who are supposed to be pleasure seekers, are in fact capable of sailing to windward! As long as the boat doesn’t heel, they are happy! South of the Punta Negra, the wind swung a little to the right, the course to Cabrera was also a little freer: the engines were turned off and genoas were unrolled, to sail close-hauled. A large part of the nature reserve’s huge, sumptuous anchorage was occupied by the Lagoon catamarans, before a convivial evening meal ashore, in the open air on the quay. Return the next day, with 15 to 18 knots of easterly breeze. For our fleet, the 30 miles’ sailing to the north-north-west can be summed up as a long slide with the wind abeam. The most experienced crews hoisted their full main and gennaker to gain a knot or two, and easily overtook the competitors – on just one hull – in a local regatta.

Life’s good in a multihull, isn’t it?