Hervé Leduc's Jibeset has claimed the 2026 French J/70 National Championship, holding off a strong women-led fleet across three days of racing at Lake Biscarrosse.
The regatta formed the fourth leg of the French Cup, run from October 9 to 11 on the lake's north arm in the Landes region. Twenty teams and more than 100 crew turned out for conditions the organisers described as fun, challenging and shifty, in keeping with the lake's reputation for testing sailors.
It was the fifth running of the ISPE Trophy at the venue, hosted once again by Yacht Club Ispe Biscarrosse, with Christophe Galharret and Daniel Masseau leading the organising effort.
Nine races decided the title. Jibeset, sailed by Leduc with Loic Avram, Mikael Garret and Louis Morin, won three races and finished on 19 points net for the overall win.
Béatrice Joyaud's Jour J, crewed by Eliot Merceron, Nicolas Dore and Thomas Le Breton, took silver with two race wins and 29 points net.
Bronze went to Philippe Guigné's Sailing Impact, with Cedric Pouligny, Cedric Meunier and Damien Scelo aboard, also on two wins but 39 points net.
Philippe Szellos's family crew on Vog Junior rounded out fourth with one win and 42 points net.
Fifth was another woman skipper, Elisabeth Vaillant, whose Triskell took a race win of its own, finishing on 46 points net, a result that underlined just how competitive the women-led boats were across the fleet.
