Tuiga wins Tradition class at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez

Tuiga, the Yacht Club de Monaco's 1909 gaff cutter, has won the Tradition class at the 28th Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, held from 26 September to 4 October 2026. The yacht came to the event after a voyage along the East Coast of the United States. Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez closes the Mediterranean regatta season each year, and this edition brought together a fleet of more than 250 modern and classic sailing yachts.

YCM Vice-President Pierre Casiraghi skippered the club's flagship. Two-time America's Cup winner Jimmy Spithill and German sailor Boris Herrmann of Team Malizia were with him at the stern, and Loïck Peyron joined them for the finale.

"With Boris on navigation, Loïck on tactics and Jimmy at the helm, we could not have asked for more. What a crew, what a week! Everything went exactly as I'd imagined. I have never seen a better crew on Tuiga," said Casiraghi. He also pointed to the club members on board, among them Spithill, Herrmann, Baron Frederick Schroder, Stavros Niarchos and Louise Debeaumont. Debeaumont, a young Laser sailor, was racing with the crew for the first time, and Casiraghi described her as a very promising sailor for the club. "Bringing together sailors from offshore racing, the America's Cup and the Olympics was truly magical," Casiraghi said. He also wanted to acknowledge the work of the core team behind the result.

The crew of the 1909 Fife yacht also included Dutch sailor Rosalin Kuiper, who raced in The Ocean Race with Team Malizia, and British racer Tom Dawson, a veteran of the Extreme Sailing Series who won the Admiral's Cup with Casiraghi. Italian Moth and foiling specialist Lorenzo De Felice and French freediver Arnaud Jerald, holder of several world records in the constant weight bi-fin discipline, completed the line-up.

On Tuesday Tuiga took second place in a steady easterly. Gusts above 15 knots forced the classic yachts to adjust their sail plans. The easterly held on Wednesday and the Monegasque cutter finished second again. Thursday was reserved for the Centenary Trophy, a pursuit race in which 18 yachts over a century old start at staggered intervals according to their ratings. On the nine-mile round-trip course Kismet finished ahead of Tuiga to win her second Centenary Trophy, after her 2022 victory. In a moderate easterly on Friday Tuiga kept pace going into the last day. On Saturday the crew ended the week at the top of the overall ranking to take the class win.

Several other YCM members raced at Saint-Tropez. In Maxi 1, Karel Komarek finished second with V and won the IMA Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge 2026, a five-event circuit. Benoît de Froidmont placed third in Maxi 3 with Wallyño. In the J Class, Peter Harrison's Rainbow and Giovanni Lombardi Stronati's Hanuman fought a close battle and finished second and third respectively.

Among the classics, Mark Dixon won the Big Boats class with Elena of London, and the Bermudan sloop Lak II won Époque Marconi B. Angelo Mazzarella's Carron II was third out of 19 in the Époque Marconi division, while Argynne III placed fourth in Époque Marconi A. Three club members raced in the IOR fleet: Bart Weduwer was third with Encounter, Massimiliano Ferruzzi fourth with Il Moro di Venezia and Lorenzo Bortolotti sixth with Tarantella.

The 2026 edition also marked 100 years of the International Committee for the Mediterranean (CIM). The CIM's international rating system for classic yachts was developed at the instigation of the Yacht Club de Monaco. The club's next classic yacht event is the 18th Monaco Classic Week-La Belle Classe, in Monaco from 8 to 11 September 2027.

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