Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez concludes: V claims 2026 IMA Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge

A second place to Sir Peter Ogden’s 77ft Jethou in Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez’s Maxi 1 class was enough to hand Karel Komárek’s 100ft V the IMA’s coveted Mediterranean maxi Inshore Challenge title for 2026.

V began her ride through the six-event championship at the IMA Maxi European Championship in Sorrento at the end of May where she won her class, following this up with another bullet for the inshore racing at Loro Piana Giraglia. She closed the season last month with a second place to Leopard 3 in the Rolex IMA Maxi World Championship in Porto Cervo before sealing the deal this week in Saint-Tropez.

 

“This was the best year ever since we started this beautiful racing team. I'm so proud of it - it was the best season,” commented Komárek. His Caribbean season this spring culminated in the North Sound Maxi Regatta, which he hosts in Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, before continuing in the Mediterranean. “I think the special one was obviously the IMA Maxi European Championship in Sorrento which we won for a second time and was very successful. Porto Cervo is very magical and obviously here in Saint-Tropez alongside all the J Class and all the new ones. It's a great pleasure to be here.”

Starting the day level on points with V, Sir Peter Ogden’s Jethou prevailed in today’s coastal race for Maxi 1 (including both the Maxi 100 and Maxi Grand Prix yachts) which, with discards was enough to land her a comfortable lead in Maxi 1 overall ahead of V and Filip Balcaen's Maxi 72 Balthasar. Jethou previously won here in 2021 when she scored straight bullets. This year her result was less emphatic, but still left her three points clear of V, winning the event’s Edmond de Rothschild Trophy (named after one of the founder of members of the IMA). 

“It's nice racing when you’re not the scratch boat,” noted Ogden. “Like today, we had eight boats in front of us, but we were so close to them…” Aside from the higher-rated Maxi 100s, Peter Dubens’ new 76ft North Star III is now the highest rated in the Maxi Grand Prix class. Having cleaned up in the recent Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix Worlds in Porto Cervo she finished fourth here. “We were a bit worried,” admitted Ogden. “But we've beaten everyone…”

Tactician Brad Butterworth said they enjoyed the conditions this week. “We had two tough days with a lot of waves and today we had a bit more wind. The boat really likes those conditions. It was a great finish to the season.” 

Maxi 2 was lining up to be a battle royal between defending champion Luciano Gandini’s Mylius 80FD Twin Soul B and another perennial winner here, Terry Hui’s Wally 77 Lyra. However this came to an abrupt end when Twin Soul B was called OCS at the start. 

Lyra’s tactician Nicolai Sehested, taking time out from skippering the Rockwall Denmark SailGP team, explained: “We had a bit of a fight down at the pin, pushing each other, trying to make it hard. Luckily we had enough runway to kill, so we didn't go over, whereas they ran out of runway at the pin and had to go over the line. Both teams knew it was going to be tight.” In fact Twin Soul B fought back to third place astern of Rainer Becker’s Wally 101 INCO. Sehested continued: “Within one lap, they were right behind us again. Then we got a bit of a lucky shift on the second upwind which really helped us.” Now Lyra will be put away ready for Terry Hui to return with his team again here in 2027 for what is their annual outing. 

The tightest result was in Maxi 3 where Luigi Sala’s Vismara 62 Yoru won on countback from Lasse Petterson's Mylius 60 Why Not and a charging  Benoît de Froidmont on his three time IMA Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge winning Wally 60 Wallyño, which was second today. This is Yoru’s third consecutive victory here. “We sailed a very nice race today,” said Sala. “We were also a bit lucky because Wallyño came second, which helped our result. But basically over the week our performance has been quite consistent. With Porto Cervo too, this year was fantastic for us.”

Winning Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez with the largest margin in a maxi class was Andrew Fitzmaurice’s crew on the slippery Dehler 60 Blue Oyster. She was campaigned by Fitzmaurice’s crew largely from the UK and some Blue Oyster regulars including owner Luca Scoppa. A bullet today left Blue Oyster on 4 points to 2025 winner Enzo Pellizzaro's Solaris 60 Crazy Diamond on 10 with the Truly Classic 90 Atalante II third on 13.

Fitzmaurice’s crew has been racing together since 2010 and this was the third time they have competed at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. This year they chartered Blue Oyster on recommendation from LV Yachting and hit the jackpot. “I can't believe it,” commented Fitzmaurice, who typically trimmed the kite on board. “It's just amazing. The crew of Blue Oyster has been fantastic as has the owner Luca and Roberto [Ferrarese] the tactician.” Discarding a third, their week was fairly flawless apart from blowing out a spinnaker. 

The Js had the tightest of all conclusions with Svea winning but only on countback from Rainbow. Read the full report here.

Owner of the Wally 80 Sud and International Maxi Association President Maurits van Oranje summarised the maxi part of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. “It's been a fantastic event. There are no social events such as Saint-Tropez. Given we had so many boats, the organisation has done a magnificent job making sure that everybody started and came back safely. When you have so many boats on the line, it’s always a challenge but I don't think there were any major breaks. I want to applaud the Société Nautique de Saint Tropez and the wonderful work of the race committee. Everyone’s had a great week.”

James Boyd / IMA

Read more about the Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez here

Overall results