After two days of sizing each other up and fine-tuning during training, it was time for racing! In a light breeze that allowed for one validated race in each of the ten competing categories, this first day offered a gentle start for the Maxis and the Moderns, ahead of the Traditions taking centre stage tomorrow. A warm-up that produced tight racing, with the favourites living up to expectations.
The J-Class Yachts Take the Spotlight
A whiff of America’s Cup hung in the air this afternoon in the Bay of Pampelonne, with weather reminiscent of 1930s Newport, when these giants faced off to claim yachting’s holy grail. The three J-Class yachts Svea, Hanuman and Rainbow entered in Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez are without doubt the sensation of this 28th edition. Their encounters are rare, and today’s race did not disappoint. Of this magical trio, Svea (pronounced ZVAY-ah!) is the favourite, and today she won the 6-mile windward-leeward course by a narrow margin ahead of Rainbow.
The Tore Holm design, rediscovered in the Swedish architect’s archives after his death and whose waterlines were refined by Andrew Hoek, was built in 2017 by Vitters in Holland. She is the longest and most powerful of the J-Class yachts! Her elite crew, drawn from Niklas Zennström’s Ran Racing team, has never stopped optimising her since her launch in 2017.
But as was the case today, she will have to rely all week on the expert crew brought together by the new owner of Rainbow, Peter Harrison, who finished less than two minutes behind after an hour of racing. Harrison is none other than the owner of the Maxi Jolt, winner of Les Voiles in Maxi A in 2024, notably with Ed Baird on tactics. As for Hanuman, a replica of Endeavour II from 1937, she has just been bought by Italian Giovanni Lombardi Stronati, who put on a demonstration in Maxi 2 last year aboard his Wallyrocket 71 Django during Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez.
In short, serious heavyweights among these boats, which took top honours by the applause-o-meter this morning at the start from the harbour. It’s hard indeed to remain unmoved by the endless, sweeping lines of these sleek hulls and the elegance radiating from crews of 30 who came to give their all for these pieces of history.
Moderns: Ready-to-Wear and Haute Couture
It was haute couture that opened the Moderns’ parade at around 1 p.m. at the Portalet buoy. The eleven IRC 0 yachts competing for the BMW Trophy took a razor-sharp start. Always quick off the line, Nanoq, already a three-time winner of Les Voiles, led the fleet through two laps of a course made up of three geostationary buoys, ” a new arrangement designed to avoid the back-and-forth and fleet crossings seen in previous years ” according to Principal Race Officer Georges Korhel. The Code Zero of Daguet 5, Frédéric Puzin’s impressive Carkeek design, went head-to-head with the genoas of the TP52s and Botin 44s. Dedicated exclusively to racing, these prototypes once again showed off their agility, slipping out of the gulf in a flash.
Next it was the turn of the three remaining IRC classes to make their own sharp start on the same course, but with just a single lap. No prototypes here, but fine fleets of well-optimised production boats, with IRC 3 taking the honours with 35 entries. In IRC 0, it’s Daguet 5 that crosses the line first, but the TP52 Spirit of Lorina takes the win on corrected time.
Results for IRC 1, 2, 3 and 4 to come on www.lesvoilesdesainttropez.com
Something New Among the Maxis
Among the Maxis, an enigma has crashed the party this year. The new Northstar III, owned by Peter Dubens, arrives in Saint-Tropez crowned with an outright victory at the recent World Championships in Porto Cervo, just three months after her launch: ” It’s rare to see a new boat perform so quickly,” admits James Dadd, head of the Technical Committee of the International Maxi Association. ” Northstar III doesn’t reinvent anything and doesn’t exploit any loopholes in the rating rule, but the way she uses performance tools is highly innovative. They’ve clearly found something that works!”.
The Judel Vrolijk design is in fact fitted with a canting keel, as seen for example on Magic Carpet or My Song. But rather than using it to maximise righting moment, she has instead been designed to sail at a shallow angle (between 10 and 15°), allowing her to maintain excellent anti-leeway performance with minimal drag. No daggerboard or water ballast on this boat, which goes all-in on lightness and features particularly refined aerodynamics, with a deck layout worthy of a dinghy and a rotating mast.
The Judel Vrolijk design, which works wonders on flat water in light airs, shone again today but conceded the overall win to another Maxi GP, the famous Jethou owned by Sir Peter Ogden, still very much in the game and kept at the highest level since her launch in 2012. Third place on the podium of this tightly contested triangle (7 boats within two minutes of each other on the line after an hour of racing) goes to Bathasar. In other words, the three Maxi GPs, grouped within the Maxi 1 class, swept the board in this first race. In conditions where lightness and smooth manoeuvring were key, the largest units were never able to make the most of their waterline length, coming up short—as was the case for the Wallycento V, last year’s winner, sixth today, or Magic Carpet e, tenth.
Meanwhile, the Maxi 2, 3 and 4 fleets sailed an 18-mile coastal course towards Cavalaire.
Spotlight on:
Blessing of the Fleet
As crews were still shaking off the morning dew and polishing stainless steel and varnish, Father Jean-Paul Gouarin blessed the race from the balcony of the Hôtel Sube. Shortly after 9 a.m. this morning, the parade of great yachts leaving the harbour could begin,
One Corinthian Can Hide Another!
Built in Saint-Nazaire and launched last April, the world’s largest sailing ship (220 m), the Orient Express Corinthian cruise liner fitted with three “solid sails,” made her entrance into the Gulf of Saint-Tropez late in the afternoon. She came, of course, to give her guests a tour, but no doubt also to salute another Corinthian, one of the four P Class yachts entered for the Rolex Trophy, helmed by her owner Sébastien Bazin, CEO of the Accor group, of which Orient Express is a subsidiary.
2026 Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez Program
Tuesday, September 29: Maxi, Modern, and Classic Regattas, including the Rolex Trophy
Wednesday, September 30: Regattas for Moderns and Classics,
including the Rolex Trophy
Day Off for Maxis, Club 55 Maxi Yachts Cup
Thursday, October 1st: Club 55 Cup, Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy (staggered starts), Challenge Day for the Moderns and Classics, Wallynano37 Challenge
Races for the Maxis
Friday, October 2: Maxi, Modern, and Classic Regattas, including the Rolex Trophy
Saturday, October 3: Maxi, Modern, and Classic Regattas, including the Rolex Trophy,
Awards Ceremony for Maxis, including the Edmond de Rothschild Trophy
Rolex Trophy Presentation
Sunday, October 4: Awards Ceremony for Moderns and Classics, including the BMW Trophy and special trophies.
PARTNERS OF LES VOILES DE SAINT-TROPEZ
Major Partner
ROLEX
Premium Partners
BMW
EDMOND DE ROTHSCHILD
Preferred Partners
WALLY
SUZUKI MARINE
BRIG
Associated Partners
VSC CORPORATE RECOVERY CONSULTING
PORT DES MARINES DE COGOLIN
NORTH SAILS
Suppliers
MERCANTOUR EVENTS
BYBLOS
PEPINIERE DU GOLFE
CHAMPAGNE BARONS DE ROTHSCHILD
CHATEAU SAINT-MAUR CRU CLASSE
MAITRES VIGNERONS DE LA PRESQU’ILE DE SAINT-TROPEZ
TIKAMOON
L’ECOLE DU LUXE
Institutional Partners of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez
CITY OF SAINT-TROPEZ
PORT OF SAINT-TROPEZ
SAINT-TROPEZ TOURISME
ESPRIT VILLAGE IN SAINT-TROPEZ
FRENCH SAILING FEDERATION
YACHT CLUB DE FRANCE
INTERNATIONAL MAXI ASSOCIATION
COMITÉ INTERNATIONAL DE LA MÉDITERRANÉE
Organisation
Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez, President: Pierre Roinson
Principal Race Officer: Georges Korhel
Registrations: Frédérique Fantino
Sea Safety: Gilles Doyen
Logistics and Supplies: Alice Coquant
Communications, External Relations: Chloé de Brouwer
Internet
www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr
www.societe-nautique-saint-tropez.fr
Instagram: les_voiles_de_saint_tropez
Facebook: les Voiles de Saint-Tropez officiel
X (ex-Twitter): @VoilesSTOrg
Youtube: Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez Officiel
Media Production
Editorial: Pierre-Marie Bourguinat
Video: Guilain Grenier, Images 6 G Production/SNST
Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget
Press Relations: Maguelonne Turcat