{"id":4422,"date":"2025-10-04T22:02:59","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T20:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr\/?p=4422"},"modified":"2025-10-04T22:03:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T20:03:00","slug":"sun-spray-and-suspense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr\/en\/sun-spray-and-suspense","title":{"rendered":"Sun, spray and suspense"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Yet more sunshine at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez today with the maritime air mass counterpointed by an E\u2019ly breeze enabling the 19 categories competing in the Maxi, Modern and Tradition categories to dance to a new tune. The suspense remains high among a dozen classes in the battle for outright victory, which will be decided tomorrow, Saturday, as racing rounds off at this 27th edition of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, where more boisterous conditions may well be on the menu.<\/strong>
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Tradition yachts: Spartan and Kiwi Magic confirm, Elena of London at her peak<\/strong>
\u201cThis was the most beautiful day of Les Voiles!\u201d gushed photographer Guilain Grenier this evening after returning from his reporting. When the wind and light play ball, with\u00a0Elena of London<\/em>\u00a0teasing the three-masted schooner\u00a0Atlantic\u00a0<\/em>on a reach in a good medium breeze, and every element aligned at the rounding of La S\u00e8che \u00e0 l\u2019Huile, the ballet of classic yachts is a sight to behold. For the Rolex Trophy, which this year rewards the Big Boats, the competition is very close between\u00a0Cambria<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Elena Of London,\u00a0<\/em>who are just one point apart, with the schooner securing the last podium spot. Suspense also colours play in Epoque Marconi B between\u00a0Sonny\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Dan<\/em>, in the Cruiser category between\u00a0Lelantina<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Eugenia IV<\/em>\u00a0and in IOR where\u00a0Matrero<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Il Moro di Venezia<\/em>\u00a0are tied on points. Meanwhile,\u00a0Spartan<\/em>\u00a0in the Big Racer category and\u00a0Kiwi Magic<\/em>\u00a0in the Twelves both scored their third bullet in a row.
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Maxis: Windward-leewards and coastal courses\u00a0<\/strong>
This Friday, the Maxi 3 and 4 categories were treated to not one but two windward-leeward courses after the Race Committee launched a second start.\u00a0
Meantime, the Maxi 1, Maxi GP and Maxi 5 categories competed in the 18-mile coastal course No.5. In Maxi 1, tactician Ken Read made the right call once again enabling Karel Komarek\u2019s Wally Cento\u00a0V<\/em>\u00a0to make good her escape on the scoreboard and remain in contention for outright victory tomorrow in the\u00a0Edmond de Rothschild Trophy. The same was true for\u00a0Yoru<\/em>\u00a0in Maxi 4 and\u00a0Crazy Diamond<\/em>\u00a0in Maxi 5. However, for the other two classes, there is still everything to play for. Indeed, in Maxi GP, the Wallyrocket 71\u00a0Django<\/em>\u00a0remains at the top of the scoreboard but today\u2019s victor,\u00a0Vesper<\/em>, clearly has yet to have her final say just one point behind.\u00a0Twin Soul B<\/em>\u00a0also stands a very good chance of snatching victory after winning two windward-leewards and taking the lead ahead of\u00a0Lyra<\/em>, with just two points between them. Verdict tomorrow, Saturday.
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Modern yachts: Suspense in three of the five classes<\/strong>
Once again, the boats with high ratings,\u00a0Daguet<\/em>\u00a0and the Wally Rocket 51\u00a0Kilara II,<\/em>\u00a0suffered on the coastal course, despite a more boisterous breeze for these speed demons. After victory went to\u00a0Vesper<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Zen<\/em>\u00a0posted a poor performance, the deal has changed for these two\u00a0IRC 0 leaders, with the Turkish\u00a0Arkas Blue Moon<\/em>\u00a0now laying in ambush. However, the top two would need a very bad race for the latter to improve on her current third place.\u00a0
In the other classes, the Race Committee very wisely shortened the course to make good use of a subtle W\u2019ly airstream. An incorrect reading of the finishing gate led to the disqualification of the German Melges 32\u00a0Heat<\/em>\u00a0but it was a smooth operation for\u00a0Give Me 5<\/em>, Adrien Follin\u2019s Cape 31, which took the win today. In so doing, she joins the former at the top of the provisional ranking, although there is a protest procedure under way.\u00a0
In IRC3, the Swan 44\u00a0Pride<\/em>, second today, is continuing to hang onto the top spot and is on track to take the crown. In IRC 1, the Swan 42\u00a0Zappys<\/em>\u00a0can also taste the sweet success of outright victory now with a five-point lead in the ranking, as can\u00a0Expresso<\/em>, the leading JPK 1010 in IRC5 which was already victorious last year.
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One day, one boat: Albator 3, the pocket-sized TP, which can cut it among the best<\/strong>
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Those following the IRC 0 starts since Monday cannot have failed to notice this boat, which bears a striking resemblance to a scaled-down version of a TP 52 with a red phoenix gracing her bow.\u00a0Albator\u00a0<\/em>is a 2021 Botin Partners design racing in the colours of the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Nautique de Saint-Tropez. There are but two examples of this boat in all the world. One French sailor is particularly smitten. \u201cI was looking for a boat the same size as the boat I had so I pressed the owner of the American Botin 44, who had no desire whatsoever to part with his. We bought the other one, which was in Brazil!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0says Philippe with a shrug. \u201cWe repatriated the boat from Santos, an operation which was not without its share of administrative complications in Brazil and then from Antwerp to St Tropez. It took a lot longer than planned so we\u2019re delighted to debut her at Les Voiles!\u201d
Entirely dedicated to racing, she might well appear to be uncluttered initially but she\u2019s actually fairly complex with multiple hydraulic rams for adjusting the rig tension and a spider\u2019s web of lines inside. \u201cAll the lines lead down below, like on the TP 52, with an infinite number of blocks, a device for taking up the slack, as well as cleats, which you can\u2019t see!\u201d\u00a0explains Benoit Briand, her boat captain, who has three America\u2019s Cups and a Jules Verne Trophy to his credit. \u201cEvery kilo of equipment aboard the boat is dedicated to performance or the stiffness of the platform. The very shallow cockpit is vast. It\u2019s a practical set-up and everything is to hand, whatever the point of sail or the breeze,\u201d he adds. So far, her only fault seems to be that she is quite a wet boat and originally had no fewer than six electric bilge pumps. On board, the crew \u201ctries to be focused and relaxed\u201d, an approach which seems to be working out as she\u2019s lying in 6th place in the overall ranking this evening in IRC 0, behind the TP 52s.
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All change among the Twelves<\/strong>
It is quite the match among the four 12mRs led by the Dane Marianne Petersen\u2019s\u00a0Kiwi Magic<\/em>. For the moment, she\u2019s managing to stay ahead of\u00a0South Australia<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0KZ5<\/em>, two other 12mRs from 1985-87.\u00a0France 1,<\/em>\u00a0designed for the 1970 America\u2019s Cup, is bringing up the rear, whilst\u00a0French Kiss<\/em>, which is celebrating her 40th anniversary in\u00a02025, is sadly a no-show at Les Voiles this year after her mast buckled during the recent R\u00e9gates Royales de Cannes.
The class, which boasted seven 12mRs GPs at the World Championships in Porquerolles, seems intent on coming together around a more structured schedule that is set to include 6 to 8 regattas in the Mediterranean next year with the Worlds in Imperia, Italy. Patrizio Bertelli, who owns\u00a0Kookaburra<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Azzura<\/em>, presently in\u00a0Trieste, would like to repatriate them to Italy\u2019s other seaboard, whilst\u00a0Kiwi Magic<\/em>\u00a0will remain in the Mediterranean and the new owner of\u00a0KZ5<\/em>, which is very much in competition mode at Les\u00a0Voiles de Saint-Tropez, is Italian. If we add to that\u00a0France 3<\/em>, whose restoration has begun in Concarneau and which may ultimately head to the Med, a line-up of 6 to 10 boats might well compete regularly in the future.
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\u00a0<\/strong>
SAINT-TROPEZ PROGRAMME<\/strong>
Saturday, October 4<\/strong>:\u00a0\u00a0Racing for Maxi, Modern and Classic yachts, including the Rolex Trophy, Prize giving for Maxis
Sunday, October 5<\/strong>:\u00a0\u00a0Prize giving for Modern and Classic yachts, including the Rolex Trophy
\u00a0<\/strong>
The full programme for Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez is available online at<\/strong>
https:\/\/www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr\/en\/presentation\/program<\/a>
\u00a0<\/strong>
Principal Partners of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez<\/strong>
ROLEX
BMW
EDMOND DE ROTHSCHILD
WALLY
SUZUKI MARINE
BRIG
\u00a0<\/strong>
Partners<\/strong>\u00a0and Official Suppliers to Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez<\/strong>
NORTH SAILS
PORT DES MARINES DE COGOLIN
MERCANTOUR\u00a0
BYBLOS
EKLE
VSC
PEPINIERE DU GOLFE
\u00a0
CHAMPAGNE BARONS DE ROTHSCHILD\u00a0
CHATEAU SAINT-MAUR CRU CLASSE
DOMAINE BERTAUD BELIEU
\u00a0<\/strong>
Institutional Partners<\/strong>\u00a0of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez<\/strong>
VILLE DE SAINT-TROPEZ
PORT DE SAINT-TROPEZ
ESPRIT VILLAGE A SAINT-TROPEZ
SAINT-TROPEZ TOURISME
FEDERATION FRANCAISE DE VOILE
YACHT CLUB DE FRANCE\u200b
INTERNATIONAL MAXI ASSOCIATION
\u00a0<\/strong>
\u00a0<\/strong>
Organisation<\/strong>:\u00a0
Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Nautique de Saint-Tropez President: Pierre Roinson\u00a0
Principal Race Officer: Georges Korhel\u00a0
Race Manager: Fr\u00e9d\u00e9rique Fantino\u00a0
On-Water Operations: Gilles Doyen\u00a0
Communications & Executive Assistant: Chlo\u00e9 de Brouwer\u00a0
Editorial: Pierre-Marie Bourguinat
Websites:\u00a0lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0societe-nautique-saint-tropez.fr<\/a>
Socials: Facebook (Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez officiel) | X\/Twitter: @VoilesSTOrg | Instagram: @les_voiles_de_saint_tropez
Video:\u00a0<\/strong>Guilain Grenier, Images 6 G Production\/SNST 2025
Photography<\/strong>: Gilles Martin-Raget
Press Relations<\/strong>: Maguelonne Turcat<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Yet more sunshine at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez today with the maritime air mass counterpointed by an E\u2019ly breeze enabling the 19 categories competing in the Maxi, Modern and Tradition categories to dance to a new tune. The suspense remains high among a dozen classes in the battle for outright victory, which will be decided…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":{"subtitle":"","autoplay":false,"delay":"","video_mp4":false,"video_webm":false,"poster_image":false,"nugget":false,"partner":false,"supplier":false,"tab":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4422"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4425,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4422\/revisions\/4425"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}