Three J Class yachts set for a spectacular Saint-Tropez showdown

For the first time in more than five years there will be three J Class yachts racing head-to-head from their own class start at the upcoming Autumn showcase, Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. After Svea and Rainbow enjoyed excellent, close racing at the Superyacht Cup Palma Richard Mille in Majorca earlier in the summer, Hanuman is now set to join the fray and compete for the first time with new Italian owner Giovanni Lombardi Stronati on the helm.

Excitement and interest in the J Class trio has been building for months and there is no doubt the magnificent Js will take pride of place among an armada of more than 250 yachts which includes many impressive, historic classics which muster each year to enjoy this unique event.  

It will be the first time that Hanuman has raced in Europe for more than ten years. In 2014 she was second at Les Voiles behind Velsheda. And it will also be the first time that Svea has raced at the Saint-Tropez regatta since passing into Swedish ownership in 2022.  

Although it will be the Hanuman crew’s first ever regatta on the successful, 2009 launched Endeavour II replica, the hugely experienced crew led by Vasco Vascotto won the very competitive Maxi class at this globally renowned event last year on Stronati’s maxi Django 7X. The majority of the close knit team have just finished the Rolex Maxi Yacht Cup on Django 7X followed immediately by the Rolex Swan Cup on the Swan 128 Be Cool.

“Let's say that for us it's the first event with this boat, so for sure we have plenty to learn still.” highlights Vascotto, “And obviously we now go sailing against some other J Class that are well prepared and already well trained. But for sure it's exciting because this kind of boat is something that is different compared to all the other boats that we are sailing. So it's very exciting for us to learn, it's very exciting to be part of such a big crew that every day has to learn something more just to be competitive. But more than that is also for sure we have in Giovanni an owner who is very passionate and loves to sail as much as he can. And this is the kind of boat that he loves.”

The Italian tactician concludes, “But again, it is the first event and we want just to enjoy it and learn and try to sail safe. We want to learn and next year for sure we try to be more competitive if possible.”

The last time the J Class enjoyed racing in Saint-Tropez as a class was in 2018 when Topaz won, but over the intervening years until this 2026 edition many other J Class yachts have won in Saint-Tropez including Ranger in 2014 and 2015 and Velsheda in 2019.

Svea are favourites?
Svea have been the dominant team in recent years but have made a number of crew changes since winning in Barcelona during the 37th America’s Cup in 2024. As a team they know they are considered favourites for victory but that their win at the Superyacht Cup Palma Richard Mille was against a team which was racing for the first time together on Rainbow with new owner Peter Harrison also steering his first races on the boat. But they too have a winning record on the Cote d’Azure as just like Hanuman’s team, the Rainbow core crew and the owner have won here, most recently with the owner’s Maxi 72 Jolt in 2024.

And of course three boats will mean much more open racing as opposed to the inevitable match racing with just two boats.  

“It is going to be three very good boats sailed by three very good teams.” Svea’s long time navigator Steve Hayles looks forward enthusiastically, “It’ll be so nice to have the three boats. I think the big interesting element is it’s a very strong team on Hanuman. They are going to be all over it. They've been training very hard. So it is going to be three very good boats sailed by three very good teams. Rainbow will now be stronger than they were. They were pretty good in Palma but that was their first time.  I think the difference between two and three boats here will be absolutely fantastic. But, above all, behind the scenes we're just trying to build the class. That's what it's all about. We genuinely are trying to get the class going. ”

Rainbow on the rise
For Rainbow it will be a chance to build on what they learned in Palma in June. America’s Cup tactician Ed Baird highlights, “We certainly know that we have our hands full to try and beat Svea, they're very fast and sail very well. But we learned our boat better and now we have better systems and ways of doing our crew work because we've had some time together so that's good. And it's going to be really nice to have a third boat.  We have some little tweaks that we've made here and there but nothing significant. We are just trying to learn what the boat can do and what it's happy with. In terms of conditions we only saw a limited amount of things in Palma which was fairly smooth water and fairly straightforward but I think, you know, the trickier it gets the better opportunities we have. At the moment we know that to line up with Svea in steady conditions it is very difficult to stay in front of them so what we'd like is for the conditions to get less steady and more interesting and give us some opportunities. And that third boat changes things so that everybody has to pay attention to two people and not just one, that's always fun.”

Baird echoes the feelings of the other J Class crews, acknowledging, “I love Saint-Tropez it's a beautiful venue, it's a very challenging racetrack because every day seems to be different in some way.”

Racing is scheduled for the J Class from Monday 28th to Saturday 3rd October with an official lay day scheduled on Wednesday 20 September.