Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez: The Gulf of St Tropez in her Sunday best
by Maguelonne Turcat 28 Sep 14:20 PDT
27 September - 5 October 2025
Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez © Gilles Martin-Raget
The gentle majesty of sail was omnipresent in the port of St Tropez this Sunday, where large crowds of visitors had the chance to enjoy a foretaste of the showstopping spectacle that will grace the race zones from tomorrow.
In a gulf caressed by a light breeze, the crews on the Tradition, Modern and Classic yachts made the most of the conditions to do their final tweaks. Offshore, the 32 classic yachts racing from nearby Théoule-sur-Mer, the starting point for the Yacht Club de France's Autumn Cup which links Les Régates Royales de Cannes and Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, made excellent speed to the delight of spectators and fellow competitors alike. This evening, the crews on the 245 competing yachts are hard at work in the port of St Tropez as the Maxi and Modern yachts are set to hit the racetrack tomorrow, Monday.
For anyone lucky enough to set foot in St Tropez this afternoon, the spectacle in the gulf gave off wonderful summery vibes with sails stretching right across the horizon! It was a sea of colours ranging from the black carbon of the Maxis to the white sail wardrobe of the Tradition yachts and the multicoloured spinnakers reminiscent of a Jacques Cordier painting, the theme of this year's event poster. Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez has officially begun!
The Yacht Club de France's Autumn Cup, linking Cannes and St Tropez
Shortly after 4 pm, it was the 1930 12mR Flica II, which took line honours in the Yacht Club de France's Autumn Cup. Hot on her heels was Il Moro di Venezia, the former Maxi IOR from 1976 owned by Raoul Gardini, third in corrected time among the Classic yachts behind Matrero and Maria Giovana. Anne Sophie took the win in the Marconi category, Oriole was first gaffer and Circé was victorious in Esprit de tradition, proof if it were needed of the eclecticism of the fleet of 32 yachts, which took part in the sprint from Cannes to St Tropez in predominantly upwind conditions and light airs.
Ranked in the Modern category at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, the Swan 651 Evrika, which has just returned from a vintage round the world competition (Ocean Global Race), was invited to join in the festivities with the president of the Yacht Club de France, one Catherine Chabaud no less, thrilled by her Sunday outing aboard her: "It took me back to 1988-90 during my time as a journalist, when I participated in the launch of the Nioulargue daily newspaper! Rediscovering these classic yachts was magical as these boats are both elegant and demanding. This afternoon it was just buzzing out on the water! Between the schooner Atlantic, the Maxis out training and all the spectator boats, we really had our work cut out pinpointing the finish line!"
19 categories, the secrets of surgical precision
Boasting a delicious mix of genres, Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez is the largest yacht meet in the Mediterranean, blending Tradition, Maxi and Modern yachts. Within each of these main categories, Race Management has divided them up in such a way that the classes can evolve year on year. "We have five Maxi classes for example, rather than the usual four, confirms Georges Korhel, the Principal Race Officer. This stems from the International Maxi Association's division of the 'grande classe' into two sub-categories: The Maxi 1s (7 craft measuring 25 to 30.5 m) competing for the Edmond de Rothschild Trophy and the Maxi GPs (5 Grand Prix craft measuring 21 to 24 metres).
Like last year, the Modern fleet comprises 5 categories, this time numbered from IRC 0, the largest, eligible for the BMW Trophy, to IRC 4. Finally, 9 categories will combine 81 Tradition yachts ranging from the flagship of this 27th edition of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, the schooner Atlantic with an LOA of 65 metres, to the little Aramis, a design by Dutchman Franz Maas, which is barely 11 metres in length. However, the ranking for these yachts is not solely related to length but also the type of boat and their rig, according to the rules set out by the Comité International de la Méditerranée. Given the honour of vying for the Rolex Trophy this year will be the Big Boats.
Modern and Maxis kick off the competition
Three Race Committees and 70 'volunteers' will be working all week long to enable the 245 boats invited to compete at Les Voiles to rack up as many races as possible on the scoreboard. A well-orchestrated effort, they will be split between the race zone of Pampelonne, where the Maxis will battle for supremacy, and the Portalet Tower, where the Modern and Tradition yachts will set sail right in front of the Village des Voiles. "The Maxi 1s and GPs will compete in as many windward-leeward races as possible. These classes comprise just 7 and 5 boats respectively, so this close-contact racing remains manageable.
For the Maxi 3,4 and 5s, which may feature in excess of 12 boats per category, we'll be favouring coastal courses. From Wednesday, which is the day off for these boats, we'll decide how to proceed further," explains Georges Korhel. Meantime, the Modern and Tradition yachts will slug it out in a series of coastal courses. "The presence this year of some very large tradition boats like Atlantic will make for a fantastic event albeit with some complicated timing as they need more room and time to prepare for the start. We'll launch the usual 5-minute start procedure about every 7 to 8 minutes. If the large IRCs complete their courses before the Tradition yachts have started, that might well lead to some nice traffic jams. That's par for the course at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, but it'll be important to stay on the lookout!"
Spotlight: Weather forecast - A thermal breeze influencing play until Wednesday
The first races for the Modern and Maxi yachts are set to be run in light airs on Monday and Tuesday. If there is minimal cloud cover, the high-pressure system will draw out an E to SE'ly thermal breeze at midday in the Gulf of St Tropez. The perfect introduction to proceedings then, whilst the tail end of the week may well see more breeze.
2025 Voiles de Saint-Tropez Programme:
Monday, September 29: Racing for Maxi and Modern yachts
Tuesday, September 30: Racing for Maxi, Modern and Classic yachts, including the Rolex Trophy
Wednesday, October 1: Racing for Modern and Classic yachts, including the Rolex Trophy. Day off for Maxis
Thursday, October 2: Club 55 Cup, Wally Rocket 51 Match Race, Gstaad YC Centenary Trophy (Pursuit race), Challenge Day for Modern and Classic yachts, racing for Maxis
Friday, October 3: Racing for Maxi, Modern and Classic yachts, including the Rolex Trophy
Saturday, October 4: Racing for Maxi, Modern and Classic yachts, including the Rolex Trophy, Prize giving for Maxis
Sunday, October 5: Prize giving for Modern and Classic yachts, including the Rolex Trophy
Find out more at www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr