Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez closed on 4 October, nine days after it began, and the 2026 edition will be remembered for finishes measured in single points. From the J Class to the Maxi fleet to the Tradition divisions, the silverware was decided by the finest of margins in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez.
J Class: Svea on the tie-break
The J Class delivered the week’s closest contest. Svea, owned by Niklas Zennström, won on a tie-break over Peter Harrison’s newcomer Rainbow, both finishing on nine points, with Hanuman, owned by Giovanni Lombardi Stronati, third. Svea also took the Corinthian King’s Cup for the best owner-driver. The result extends a remarkable run: Svea remains unbeaten at every regatta since Swedish ownership began in 2022.
That unbeaten record is becoming one of the great streaks in modern classic racing. The J Class fleet is small and the boats are closely matched, which makes dominance harder, not easier: there is nowhere to hide over a week of racing, and every rival has four years of Svea tapes to study. That the Swedish team keeps finding the extra point is a tribute to preparation as much as to boatspeed.
The arrival of Rainbow as a genuine contender is the other half of the J Class story. A newcomer pushing the unbeaten champion to a tie-break is exactly what the class needs: the J fleet has always depended on a small number of committed owners, and a second boat capable of winning changes the competitive arithmetic for everyone. Expect the Svea-Rainbow rivalry to define the class into next season.
Maxi fleet: Blue Oyster takes the town’s cup
In the Maxi divisions, Blue Oyster, the Dehler 60 owned by Luca Scoppa and campaigned this week by Andrew Fitzmaurice’s chartered crew, took the Coupe de la Ville de Saint-Tropez as the outright Maxi champion, adding the Maxi 4 division title for good measure. Jethou, Sir Peter Ogden’s maxi, won Maxi 1 and with it the Trophée Edmond de Rothschild. The remaining division titles went to Lyra, owned by Terry Hui, in Maxi 2, and Yoru, owned by Luigi Sala, in Maxi 3. V, Karel Komarek’s Wally, collected the IMA Maxi Mediterranean Inshore Challenge Cup.
The spread of winners across five different owners is the healthiest possible sign for the maxi scene. A fleet in which Blue Oyster, Jethou, Lyra, Yoru, and V each take silverware is a fleet with depth, and depth is what keeps owners campaigning: nobody turns up to a parade.
Tradition and Modern fleets
The Tradition fleet produced its own royalty. The Rolex Trophy went to Olympian, owned by Philippe Oddo, in the P Class. Best Big Boat was awarded to Elena of London, owned by Stephen Benfield. Grand Tradition went to Tuiga, skippered by Jimmy Spithill, while the Epoque Gaffer title went to Kismet, owned by Sir Richard Matthews, and Epoque Marconi A to Leonore, owned by Mauro Piani.
In the Modern fleet, the BMW Trophy for IRC 0 went to Spirit of Lorina, with the Ker 46 Lisa R taking IRC 1, the Ukrainian J 133 J Wow dominating IRC 2, and the Farr 30 Topas winning IRC 3. The 12 Metre class saw Kiwi Magic, skippered by Marianne Petersen, beat Marc Pajot’s French Kiss, in a week graced by the presence of HM King Frederik X of Denmark, whose Nanoq finished third in IRC 0. The Gun class Trophée du Yacht Club de France was awarded to Ariane de Rothschild.
The regatta that keeps growing
Les Voiles remains the regatta the rest of the calendar is measured against: nine days, the full sweep from J Class thoroughbreds to gaff-rigged centenarians, and a village that treats the racing as the main event rather than the sideshow. The 2026 edition added one more colourful footnote when the schooner Atlantic “repaired” an early start with a near-360-degree turn off the quay. No notable incidents were reported across the week’s racing.
For the maxi and J Class fleets, the season now turns to the winter: the Caribbean circuit, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup’s long shadow, and for the America’s Cup teams, the long build to Naples 2027. Saint-Tropez was the curtain call for the Mediterranean racing year, and it closed on a tie-break. It is hard to ask for more, and next year’s fleet will have this week’s scoreboard taped to the bulkhead from the very first start.
Photography: Gilles Martin Raget, courtesy of the J Class Association.
