Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez remains one of the Mediterranean’s most iconic and prestigious regatta weeks, where a dazzling array of classic and modern yachts race amid the timeless charm of the Côte d’Azur’s most glamorous fishing town. The 2025 edition once again brought together a record 41 Maxi yachts for an unforgettable week of sailing, spectacle, and sportsmanship.
Elite Racing in the Maxi Divisions
The Maxi divisions—open to yachts over 60 feet—delivered some of the most intense racing of the event. A mix of coastal and windward-leeward courses across the Bay of Pampelonne tested every facet of boat handling, teamwork, and tactical finesse. With shifting breezes and razor-thin points separating the fleets, this year’s racing was a masterclass in big-boat competition. At the heart of the action were two of the most admired 100-footers in the world—the Wallycentos Galateia and V.
Both launched over a decade ago, these white giants continue to define the cutting edge of superyacht performance and style. Built under Wally’s “box rule” concept, the Wallycentos blend radical technology with owner-driven comfort, setting the benchmark for modern Maxi racing.
Galateia and V: Veteran Rivals, Lasting Excellence
Galateia, owned by David M. Leuschen and Chris Flowers, captured the spotlight this season by winning the 2025 IMA Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge (MMIC)—a five-regatta series that concluded in Saint-Tropez. Her triumph broke the long dominance of Benoît de Froidmont’s Wallyño, a former three-time champion.
Galateia’s season wasn’t without drama. During the opening day in Saint-Tropez, she suffered a start-line collision with Capricorno and the race committee boat, damaging her hull at the waterline. In a race against time, the team rushed to La Ciotat for emergency repairs—returning just two days later to rejoin the fleet. “It was heartbreaking, but our shore crew and team did an amazing job,” said tactician Kelvin Harrap, praising the crew’s resilience and professionalism.
The team’s comeback sealed their season-long success, built on consistent results and technical refinement. Upgrades this year included hull optimization, water ballast adjustments, and new sail development with Doyle Sails’ Richard Bouzaid, supported by a world-class afterguard featuring Murray Jones and Markus Weiser.
Meanwhile, V, owned by Karel Komárek, dominated Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez itself, taking four wins from six races to secure the overall regatta victory. The duel between V and Galateia—two decade-old designs still at the pinnacle of performance—showcased how commitment, evolution, and precision engineering can outpace even the newest builds.
A Legacy of Innovation
Their enduring rivalry underscores the unique spirit of the Maxi world: passion balanced with relentless pursuit of progress. These yachts may be over ten years old, yet they continue to evolve—fine-tuning hydrodynamics, refining control systems, and pushing their crews to new limits.
As Galateia and V now prepare for their winter campaigns in the Caribbean before returning to Europe next summer, their continued success embodies the very essence of Wally’s vision—performance, beauty, and innovation united in motion. At Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez 2025, the message was clear: the reign of the 100-foot Wallycentos is far from over.
Django 7X — New Kid, Strong Showing
The Wallyrocket 71 Django 7X entered as one of the newest and most exciting entries in the Maxi Grand Prix fleet — and she didn’t disappoint. With a lightweight hull, aggressive water ballast, and a minimal rating, Django 7X is built for performance under IRC and shows that her design is more than just potential — it’s race-winning capability.
Dominant Races in Light Air
On one of the event’s lighter days, Django 7X delivered two bullet races in the Grand Prix class. In the first, she led from the line to the finish by over four minutes on corrected time. The second race brought stiffer competition — she was second across the line to Jethou, but narrowly beat her on corrected time by just 14 seconds. These results showed both raw speed and precision tuning — especially in conditions where every decision matters.
Closely Contested Overall Victory
Django 7X’s strong early results were bolstered by her consistency over the week. Although she didn’t win every race, her finishes were close enough to keep her in the hunt. On the final day, under ideal conditions with a 12–15 knot southwesterly breeze, she held off her rivals long enough to secure overall victory in the Maxi Grand Prix class — winning by just a single point over Vesper.
Team and Technical Highlights
Project manager and tactician Vasco Vascotto praised the crew’s ability to “find good lanes” and make the yacht work cleanly in tricky wind shifts. The design philosophy of Django 7X — light displacement, high ballast, efficient sail plan — paid dividends, especially downwind. And though upwind legs sometimes proved more challenging, the team’s sail trimming, starts, and maneuvers often turned those deficits into advantages.
Significance in the Maxi Fleet
With Django 7X’s arrival, the Grand Prix class gains a new benchmark. As other boats such as Galateia and V battled it out in Maxi 1, Django 7X’s presence underscores that innovation and youth in design still have a major role in shaping outcomes. Her performance demonstrated that a newer design can leap into the elite cohorts if the boat is handled with respect and sailed sharply.
Lyra: Consistent Contender
Lyra once again proved she remains a force to be reckoned with within the Maxi fleet. Racing in the Maxi 3 division, she pushed the pace all week and came agonizingly close to victory, ultimately finishing just two points behind the winner Twin Soul B (Mylius 80).
Leopard 3: The Farr 100 Still Roars
Few yachts command attention quite like the Farr 100 Leopard 3. Built by McConaghy Boats and designed by Farr Yacht Design, this 30-metre carbon super-maxi is a thoroughbred built for speed. With her towering 47-metre mast, canting keel and 1,600 m² sail plan, Leopard 3 remains one of the fastest monohulls on the international circuit — and a familiar sight on the Mediterranean’s grand prix start lines.
Strong Showing in Maxi 1
Leopard 3 once again proved that experience and precision can hold their own against newer designs. Racing in the fiercely competitive Maxi 1 division, she delivered a string of consistent performances across a variety of wind conditions, ultimately securing a third-place overall finish behind V and Capricorno in the hunt for the Edmond de Rothschild Trophy.
Throughout the week, Leopard 3 showcased her trademark balance of raw power and smooth control. In lighter Mediterranean breezes, her optimized sail trim and disciplined crew coordination allowed her to keep pace with the front-runners. As the wind built, she came into her own — slicing through the chop at over 20 knots and reminding onlookers that she remains every bit the ocean-racing beast she was designed to be.
A Modern Classic with Enduring Bite
More than 15 years after her launch, Leopard 3 continues to bridge the gap between high-tech performance and superyacht elegance. Her record includes transatlantic crossings, offshore trophies, and now another impressive showing in Saint-Tropez. For her owner and crew, the result reinforces Leopard 3’s enduring reputation: not just a yacht of the past, but a living legend still capable of roaring with the best.
Swan 88 SPIIP: A Promising Debut
The Swan 88 SPIIP, one of Nautor’s newest and most striking creations, made her presence felt at the 2025 Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. Designed by Germán Frers, she embodies the Swan philosophy — combining cruising elegance with serious racing intent.
Racing in the Maxi 1 class, SPIIP lined up against seasoned contenders such as Leopard 3, V, and Capricorno. Despite being a new entry to the circuit, she showed impressive pace and precision in light Mediterranean conditions, holding her own among purebred racers.
While not yet a podium regular, SPIIP’s debut confirmed her potential: a refined yet competitive yacht ready to make her mark on the international maxi scene.
Galateia: Grace, Grit, and a Dramatic Comeback
It was a week of high drama and high performance for the Wally Cento Galateia at this year’s Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. The 100-foot carbon flyer — a Reichel/Pugh-designed masterpiece that blends avant-garde design with super-yacht luxury — arrived on the Côte d’Azur as one of the favourites in the Maxi 1 class.
But the regatta began with disaster. On the opening day, Galateia was caught in a start-line collision involving Capricorno and a race committee vessel, tearing a one-metre gash in her hull and forcing an immediate withdrawal. Within hours, the team had mobilised a rapid repair operation in La Ciotat, working around the clock to patch the damage and get her back on the line.
“It was heartbreaking on day one,” recalled tactician Kelvin Harrap, “but the shore crew did an amazing job — we were back racing before the week was over.”
Their resilience paid off. Once Galateia returned, she quickly found her rhythm — sailing with precision and pace, clawing back points race after race. By the end of the event, she not only redeemed her early misfortune but also sealed victory in the 2025 Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge, edging out rivals V and Capricorno by just over two percent.
A blend of cutting-edge design, flawless teamwork, and unshakable spirit made Galateia one of the standout stories of Saint-Tropez — proof that even after a bruising start, the heart of a true racer beats stronger than ever.
Maxi Grand Prix: Django Takes the Crown
The Maxi Grand Prix fleet delivered some of the closest racing of the week. Giovanni Lombardi Stronati’s Django 7X claimed the title through quiet consistency, edging Jim Swartz’s Vesper by just one point after a week of tactical duels and shifting Mediterranean winds.
Sir Peter Ogden’s Jethou rounded out the podium with trademark precision, while Peter Harrison’s Jolt made headlines by taking a dramatic final-day win. Peter Dubens’ Northstar added depth to the fleet, pushing the frontrunners into daring moves. Fast, refined, and fiercely contested — the Grand Prix class once again proved why it’s the sharpest edge of maxi yacht racing.
Battle of the Wallys
A thrilling showdown of Wally yachts as V, Galateia, Lyra, and Wallyño fought for supremacy on the French Riviera. Karel Komárek’s V, the latest Wallycento 100, sailed with surgical precision to take overall victory in the Maxi 1 class, her crew mastering every shift in the light Mediterranean breeze.
David Leuschen and Chris Flowers’ Galateia staged a remarkable comeback after a first-day collision — returning to the racecourse and finishing strong with impressive speed and spirit.
In the Maxi 3 division, Lorenzo Mondo’s Lyra once again proved she’s a force to be reckoned with, coming within two points of the winning Twin Soul B — a near-miss that underlined her enduring competitiveness.
Meanwhile, Peter Dubens’ Wallyño triumphed in the Maxi C class, her polished teamwork and balance securing first place among the smaller maxis.
Four yachts, four stories of precision, resilience, and style — together, they defined the Battle of the Wallys.
Link to The Islander Magazine: Page 79 & 83: https://theislander.online/online-paper-magazine/
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