Three J Class yachts stole the show on the opening day of racing at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, as light breezes allowed all ten categories entered to complete their first race of the regatta.
There was a distinct flavour of the America's Cup in Pampelonne Bay this afternoon, the weather reminiscent of 1930s Newport, when these giants once battled for sailing's greatest prize. Svea, Hanuman and Rainbow, the three J Class yachts entered in this 28th edition, proved to be the sensation of the fleet.
Svea took out today's six-mile course by a narrow margin over Rainbow. Built in 2017 by Vitters in Holland from a Tore Holm design rediscovered in the Swedish architect's archives after his death, with waterlines smoothed by Andrew Hoek, Svea is the longest and most powerful J Class on the water. Her crew, drawn from Niklas Zennström's Ran Racing team, has been refining her since launch.
Rainbow finished less than two minutes behind after an hour's racing. Her new owner, Peter Harrison, also owns the Maxi Jolt, winner of Maxi A at last year's Voiles, with Ed Baird on tactics. Hanuman, a replica of the 1937 Endeavour II, has just been bought by Italian owner Giovanni Lombardi Stronati.
In the Moderns fleet, Nanoq led the eleven-strong IRC 0 class off the start at Portalet, chasing a fourth Voiles title. The TP52 Spirit of Lorina took the win on corrected time, ahead of Frédéric Puzin's striking Carkeek design Daguet 5, which had the gun but not the handicap result.
Something new stirred among the Maxis. Peter Dubens' Northstar III arrived at Saint-Tropez fresh off an unbeaten run at the Maxi world championships in Porto Cervo, just three months after launching.
"It's rare to see a new boat perform so fast," said James Dadd, head of the International Maxi Association's Technical Committee. "Northstar III doesn't reinvent anything and isn't exploiting a loophole in the rule, but the way they use performance tools is very innovative. They've clearly found something."
The Judel Vrolijk design carries a canting keel but sails at shallow angles of 10 to 15 degrees rather than maximising righting moment, keeping drag low while retaining good lateral resistance. She shone today but had to settle for second, with victory going to Sir Peter Ogden's Jethou, still performing strongly since her 2012 launch. Baltasar took third in a tight finish, with seven boats within two minutes of each other after an hour of racing.
The Wallycento V, last year's winner, could only manage sixth in the light going. Magic Carpet3 finished tenth.
