Jethou and Olympian crowned as Saint-Tropez classics shine

Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez closed with Olympian claiming the Rolex Trophy and Jethou taking out the Maxi fleet, in a week that honoured classic and modern yachting alike.

Saturday's final day began under generous sunshine and a well-established easterly that chased away the clouds, leaving almost everything still to be decided across the 20 classes. By evening the tension had ratcheted up with every results sheet. Organisers suggested that if there was one true winner, it was the regatta week itself.

In the P Class, Olympian and Chips fought a tight battle all week. Olympian copped a penalty in the first race but still had to watch Chips take wins later on. "It was intense with Chips, they threw feints and tack changes at us constantly, it was proper match racing the whole race. We fought to the end," said Philippe Oddo on the dock after racing. Olympian, the narrowest of the P Class boats, proved best suited to the choppy conditions kicked up by the easterly and now joins last year's winner Cambria on the Rolex Trophy honour roll.

In the Big Traditions class, the schooner Elena of London won after a tight contest with fellow schooner Lelantina and the ketch Sumurun, which took second overall. In Grand Tradition, Jimmy Spithill, at the helm of Tuiga, took two days to find the Fife design's full potential but ultimately won cleanly with two race wins over Viveka.

Among the Epoque Aurique fleet, Kismet was faultless with three race wins from four, ahead of the Herreshoff sloop Oriole and the New York 40 Marylee. In Epoque Marconi A, the largest class of the regatta with nineteen entries, Leonore won convincingly ahead of the Q Class Falcon and the 8 Metre Carron II.

Kiwi Magic made the podium count. The 12 Metre spent Wednesday and Thursday under repair after mast damage, then finished level on points with French Kiss, edging it out on race wins.

Jethou, Sir Peter Ogden's Judel/Vrolijk-designed Maxi, opened the week with a win in light airs, holding off the 100-footers as well as NorthStar III, the fleet's reigning world champion, and kept up strong form all week, posting a worst result of fifth. Level with the Wallycento V going into the final day, Jethou won today's coastal race to seal the championship, a strong result for a boat built in 2012, originally a 72-footer and since lengthened to 77 feet. V missed out on the Voiles double but claimed the IMA Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge 2026 title overall, combining results from Palmavela, the IMA Maxi European Championship inshores at Sorrento, the Loro Piana Giraglia inshores, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez.

Elsewhere in the Maxi fleet, Lyra beat Twin Soul B in Maxi 2 thanks to today's race win, Yoru edged out Why Not in a close Maxi 3 contest, and Blue Oyster took out Maxi 4 comfortably with three race wins from four counted.

The J Class produced one of the week's standout stories. Svea, built in 2017 to a rediscovered design by Swedish architect Tore Holm and sailed by Niklas Zennström's team, won three of the six races it completed to top the class ahead of Rainbow and Hanuman, which won today's race and had progressed through the week. "The racing keeps getting tighter. Our challenge is holding a small gap over Rainbow and Hanuman, and keeping improving ourselves because that will shape next season," said tactician Tony Rey. "Every new upwind or downwind leg in close company is still a chance to learn, even though we've sailed together aboard Svea for years. That's what motivated us to race the Voiles."

Svea was presented with the Corinthian Kings Cup on the final evening, a trophy introduced by the J Class in 2012 to recognise an owner-driver in the season's most significant regatta. J Class secretary Louise Morton said the fleet had returned to proper competitive racing for the first time in several years, with some of the world's best sailors aboard, adding that the atmosphere ashore had, as always, been unique with the J Class boats the centre of attention.

Among the Moderns, Spirit of Lorina took out the BMW Trophy for IRC 0, finishing second on the day behind the Wallyrocket51 Kilara 2 but strong enough overall on two race wins and few discards in a high-calibre fleet. The TP52, designed by Botin and formerly raced as Azzurra in 2012, was taken over this season by Marcelo Pica and Jean-Pierre Barjon. "Jean-Pierre did a superb job with the team on the boat. We worked with real intensity and focus right to the end. We won three races, which is fantastic given the level in this class here," said Marcello Pica. Interlodge IV, the Botin 44 owned by American Gwen Fragomen, split Spirit of Lorina and Nanoq for third overall.

Smaller fleet results included Lisa R winning IRC 1 ahead of Pretexte 2, with J Wow dominant in IRC 2 for Ukraine. In IRC 3, Topaz held off Pride all week to take the title, with fellow Farr 30 Letto di Pletto third. In IRC 4, Overdose Neo, sailed by the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez, won ahead of Iskareen and Corto Maltese, closing out the 28th edition of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez.