Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez reached its midway point on Wednesday, with Modern and Tradition yachts returning to the racecourse in the south of France under brisk conditions. While the Maxis enjoyed a day off from fleet racing, two contenders — the 35-metre Wallycento Tilakkhana II and the 22-metre Maxi GP Balthasar — squared off in the traditional Club 55 Maxi Yacht Cup. This friendly challenge, much like the earlier contest between the three J Classes, embodies the Corinthian spirit championed by Patrice de Colmont, creator of the Nioulargue, who passed away on 11 October 2025 and whose legacy continues to animate this 28th edition of the event.
With three races now completed, the standings in the IRC fleet are starting to take shape, though the fiercely contested starts mean any mistake can rearrange the scoreboard in an instant. That was the story for Knutte and Albator 3, both of which overshot the start on Wednesday morning and incurred a five-point penalty with no chance of redress. Principal Race Officer Georges Korhel explained the rationale: “It acts as a strong deterrent normally as we can ill afford having competitors turning back on themselves to recross the line and we can’t have multiple starts given the number of categories we have to get through each morning.”
In IRC 0, Spirit of Lorina claimed the bullet ahead of Daguet 5, which crossed the line first but could not overcome the rating differential of three minutes per hour of racing. The crew led by Jean-Pierre Barjon and Marcelo Pica aboard the 2012 Botin-designed TP52 has clearly found its rhythm and has been a regular front-runner since the team’s debut this season. Spirit of Lorina is locked in a battle for overall supremacy with the German team on Knutte, with the coveted BMW Trophy on the line.
In IRC 1, the Farr 45 Favorit secured the day’s win, but the podium fight appears to be a four-boat contest between Lisa R, Pretexte 2, Zappys, and Searcher 2. In IRC 2, J Wow continues her near-perfect regatta in conditions ideally suited to the powerful Johnstone design. The Jayson family’s Swan 44 Pride, the reigning champion, recorded her first victory of this edition in IRC 3. And in IRC 4, Iskareen rediscovered the speed she showed on Monday, confirming the Swan 391 as a genuine contender for outright victory. Across IRC classes 1 to 4, the livelier winds on Tuesday and Wednesday have broadly favoured cruiser-racers. Thursday’s Challenge Day gives everyone a welcome breather before two more races on Friday and Saturday.
Among the Tradition yachts, the finest start of the day once again belonged to the Big Boats in the Grand Tradition category. These eleven majestic yachts, ranging from 22 to 56 metres, are standard bearers of yachting’s golden age. The timeless Tuiga, absent in 2025 but back in action this year with Jimmy Spithill at the helm, delivered another inspiring performance and finished second. Elena Of London and Viveka held their own as they did the previous day, while the 65-metre, 300-tonne Atlantic carefully set sail a little astern of the fleet.
Gaff topsails were absent from the sail wardrobe on Wednesday, and several Marconi rigs had tucked in a reef or rolled up sail area to stay in control as the easterly breeze gusted above 15 knots around midday. Guillaume Wattinne, owner of Svanevit, noted the contrast with the previous day: “Yesterday, we set sail under light genoa as there was less breeze in the bay, but later on we had to hang on in there as things got a bit lively and the boat’s structure was really put to the test!” His 1939 8mR was designed by the Swedish naval architect Tore Holm, the man who created Svea two years earlier. Guillaume was preparing to present the J Class crews with a biography of Holm, a master craftsman who not only designed boats but built them in the family yard and excelled as a helmsman on the racing circuit.
Svanevit is one of three 8mRs in the Classique Marconi category, where the Q Class Leonore, an Anker design, leads the standings ahead of multi-time world champion Carron 2. Among the P Class yachts, the previous day’s battle ended with Chips finishing just seven seconds ahead of Joyant in corrected time. Olympian cannot afford another slip after her disqualification while leading, but the green P Class still has everything to play for after nailing Wednesday’s win in dazzling fashion, carrying full mainsail and J2 from the outset while rivals raced with a reef and struggled in the dying breeze at the finish.
In the IOR division, Il Moro di Venezia was supreme in 2025 as a virtual loner, but this year she faces a genuine challenge from the One Tonners, boats half her size that are owed 15 minutes per hour of racing. The 2026 class features seven craft, the lowest-rated being the charming Tarantella, a polyester build with a timber rubbing strake and the Nautor yard’s first racer-cruiser. This 1966 Sparkman and Stephens design of 11 metres launched the celebrated Swan series in Finland beside a sea that freezes for four months of the year. Made of sterner stuff than most, Nautor remains in Pietarsaari to this day, braving the temperature challenges of carbon construction and some of the world’s highest labour costs.
The Club 55 Maxi Yacht Cup saw the Wallycento Tilakkhana II, helmed by Pascale Decaux, defeat Balthasar in an elapsed-time match free of handicap calculations — exactly the format Patrice de Colmont envisioned when he created the Nioulargue in 1981. The legendary boss of Club 55 believed regatta racing was too serious a matter to be left entirely to racers. He was not a competitive man, preferring instead tiny bivouacs among the islands aboard Cocotte, the little mahogany sports dinghy built by Matonnat that he sailed as a child. Yet he loved the sea, beautiful boats, and those who sailed them.
A master of improvisation and a shrewd manager, an extraordinary storyteller and a great listener, a host to the stars and a friend to writer, farmer, and environmentalist Pierre Rabhi — whose produce he used in the kitchens of Club 55 — Patrice de Colmont was a true one-off. He retained a light touch and a sense of boldness in his vision to organise and grow this week-long festival of racing, the likes of which exist nowhere else on earth. He continued to host crews competing in the Wednesday and Thursday challenge days, a tradition that began with the Swan 44 Pride and the 12mR Ikra in 1981. Having passed away after a short but cruel illness, this 28th edition is the first without Patrice, and yet his spirit lives on.
The remainder of the 2026 Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez schedule includes Thursday’s Club 55 Cup, Gstaad Yacht Club des Centenaires Trophy, Challenge Day for the Moderns and Classics, and Wallynano37 Challenge. Friday and Saturday feature races for the Maxis, Moderns, and Classics, including the Rolex Trophy, with prize-giving for the Maxis and the Edmond de Rothschild Trophy on Saturday evening. Sunday closes the regatta with prize-giving for the Moderns and Classics, including the BMW Trophy and special trophies.
