Saturday, September 26 at 09:00 Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez village will open its doors to competitors and the public.

More than 3,500 crew members from around the world are expected to gather for a unique spectacle: the meeting of more than 250 sailing yachts ranging from 9 to 56 metres, invited by the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez for nine days of racing and celebration.

Combining elite-level competition, elegance and conviviality, this is the only regatta to bring together Maxis, Moderns and Classic yachts in a celebration of every facet of the art of yachting. Let the festivities begin!

Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez © SNST / Gilles Martin-Raget

The spectacle begins on Saturday

Even before the registration desk opens on Saturday, the vast majority of the entered yachts will already have made their way towards the famous Var port. It is a chance to leaf through the great book of yachting, from 1890 to the present day, and discover some of the gems that will be making headlines at the 28th edition of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. Among them are the three J Class yachts Svea, Hanuman and Rainbow, together with the brand-new Maxi Northstar III, the 76-foot Judel/Vrolijk design and recent winner of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, the world championships for Maxis held in Porto Cervo. As last year, the three-masted schooner Atlantic, a replica of the yacht that set Charlie Barr’s record, will once again be seen sailing in the gulf of Saint-Tropez.

From Saturday onwards, the action will also move onto the water, with the first training sessions and crew manoeuvres offering a taste of the racing to come. Ashore, the village will also spring to life, centred around the Les Voiles Bar and the public areas. Behind the scenes, the team at the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez has been preparing for months to ensure the success of the event. From Saturday, more than 300 people will be deployed on the water and ashore, including around one hundred volunteers drawn directly from the club’s membership.

Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez – photo © SNST / Gilles Martin-Raget

20 trophies to crown the winners

Racing gets under way on Sunday, with the Classics arriving from Cannes as part of the Yacht Club de France Autumn Cup. From Monday, the Moderns and Maxis will take centre stage, joined by the Classic yachts from Tuesday onwards. On Wednesday, Classics and Moderns will continue their battles while the Maxis take a day off – with the exception of Balthasar and Tilakkhana II, who will go head-to-head for the Club 55 Maxi Yachts Cup, and Rainbow and Hanuman, who will face one another in an America’s Cup-inspired match-racing format. On Thursday, it will be the turn of the Moderns and Classic yachts to enjoy a day off. But there will be no shortage of action on the water. The day will be dedicated to challenge and heritage, with the eagerly anticipated Club 55 Cup, which will see Mariella and Hallowe’en, celebrating her centenary this year, recreate their 1981 confrontation. They will be followed, as tradition dictates, by a series of challenges involving two or more yachts. Finally, on Friday and Saturday, the entire fleet will return to the racecourse for the fleet races across all 20 categories, with a trophy awarded to the winner of each.

Three of these trophies carry particular prestige:

• The Rolex Trophy will be awarded to the best Classic yacht in the P Class. These 17-metre gaff-rigged yachts from the American East Coast were designed to the Universal Rule developed by Nathanael Herreshoff. All are now more than a century old. Magnificently restored and brought back to Europe, they form an exceptional four-boat fleet in which the closeness of their performances, combined with the expertise of their crews, invariably produces intensely close racing.
• The Edmond de Rothschild Trophy will go to the winner of Maxi 1, an outstanding class bringing together 13 yachts. The three Maxi GP yachts entered this year have joined the premier Maxi division, further strengthening an already formidable fleet. The result is an exceptional line-up of yachts ranging from 22 to 33 metres, offering a remarkable diversity of designs and ratings – and promising plenty of surprises on the racecourse.
• The BMW Trophy will be at the heart of the battle in IRC 0, the flagship class bringing together the yachts with the highest ratings in the fleet. This year, 11 boats will compete, including seven TP52s, the benchmark of grand-prix racing, along with two Botin 44s, a Carkeek 54 and the WallyRocket 51.

Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez – photo © SNST / Gilles Martin-Raget

Schedule

Saturday, September 26: Registration confirmation
Sunday, September 27: Registration confirmation
Arrival of the Yacht Club de France’s Coupe d’Automne (Cannes-Saint-Tropez)
Monday, September 28: Races for the Maxis and Moderns
Tuesday, September 29: Races for the Maxis, Moderns, and Classics, including the Rolex Trophy
Wednesday, September 30: Races for the Moderns and Classics, including the Rolex Trophy Day-off for the Maxis, Club 55 Maxi Yacht Cup
Thursday, October 1: Club 55 Cup, Gstaad Yacht Club des Centenaires Trophy (staggered starts), Challenge Day for the Moderns and Classics, Wally Nano 37 Challenge
Races for the Maxis
Friday, October 2: Races for the Maxis, Moderns, and Classics, including the Rolex Trophy
Saturday, October 3: Races for the Maxis, Moderns, and Classics, including the Rolex Trophy Prize-giving for the Maxis, including the Edmond de Rothschild Trophy
Presentation of the Rolex Trophy
Sunday, October 4: Prize-giving for the Moderns and Classics, including the BMW Trophy and special trophies

www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr/en

by Maguelonne Turcat