The 28th edition of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez kicks off on Saturday 26 September, drawing more than 3,500 crew from around the world to the French port for nine days of racing and celebration. Over 250 yachts ranging from 9 to 56 metres will gather, invited by the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez, for what remains the only regatta to bring Maxis, Moderns and Tradition classes together under one event.
Registration opens at 9am Saturday, though most competing boats have already made their way to the Var coast port. Among the standout entries are three J Class yachts, Svea, Hanuman and Rainbow, alongside the brand-new Maxi Northstar III, a 76-foot Judel Vrolijk design fresh off victory at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo. The three-masted schooner Atlantic, a replica of Charlie Barr's record-holding original, will again cut a striking profile in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez.
From Saturday, the action shifts to the water too, with early training runs and crew manoeuvres offering a taste of what's coming. Onshore, the village will spring to life around the Voiles bar and public areas. More than 300 people will be working across sea and land operations, including around a hundred volunteers drawn from the club's own membership.
Twenty trophies are up for grabs across the regatta.
Racing proper begins Sunday with classics arriving from Cannes as part of the Yacht Club de France's Coupe d'Automne. Moderns and Maxis open their campaigns Monday, joined by traditional yachts from Tuesday. Wednesday sees Classics and Moderns continue battling while Maxis take a rest day, save for Balthasar and Tilakkhana II duelling for the Club 55 Maxi Yachts Cup, and Rainbow facing Hanuman in an America's Cup-style format.
Thursday belongs to challenges and nostalgia. The Club 55 Cup features Mariella against Halloween, the latter celebrating its centenary this year, in a rematch of their 1981 clash. Friday and Saturday bring fleet racing across all 20 categories, each with its own trophy on the line.
Three trophies carry particular weight. The Rolex Trophy goes to the best traditional yacht in the P Class, a group of centenarian 17-metre gaff-riggers designed to Nathanael Herreshoff's universal rule and now beautifully restored back in Europe. The Trophée Edmond de Rothschild rewards the top Maxi 1, a fleet of 13 boats spanning 22 to 33 metres. The BMW Trophy will be contested in IRC 0, headlined by seven TP52s among eleven starters.
Prize-giving runs across the closing weekend, wrapping up Sunday 4 October.
