The week in racing - 2 Nov ’26

This week we've had multiple capsizes in the Route du Rhum, big ideas for the Olympic programme and the rule-makers turning their attention to grand prix boats. And with Moths, Stars, J/24s and wingfoilers all chasing world titles this week, there’s no let-up.

Francis Joyon’s Route du Rhum has come to an abrupt halt. The 70-year-old 2018 winner capsized his ORMA trimaran Océans in the Celtic Sea on Monday while leading the Vintage Multi class. Race management announced it shortly before 17:00 French time (16:00 GMT), confirming Joyon was unhurt and, at last report, still aboard the upturned boat.

A rescue operation is under way with CROSS Jobourg, France’s maritime rescue centre, and the British authorities, in 20–25 knots of breeze and two-metre waves. The cause isn’t yet known, nor whether Océans can be recovered. Damien Seguin now leads the class in the sister ship, the former Fujicolor II.

Catch up on the other casualties from the race’s first 24 hours in our full rundown, and follow the fleet on the official tracker.

Jack Jennings and Phil Trinter (USA) led the Star North Americans at Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa from the opening race, winning five of the eight to seal the title with a race to spare. A second in Race 7 wrapped it up, and they sat out the finale on 10 net points.

Conditions ranged from northerlies gusting past 20 knots to lighter, trickier breeze over the last two days. John Loe and Shane Zwingelberg took silver on 18 points, with George Szabo and Guy Avellon bouncing back from a DNC to grab bronze on 21 and complete an all-American podium. A handy tune-up for the Worlds in Miami next week, where Jennings and Szabo will both be racing. Full results here.

The iQFOiL Youth and Junior Europeans in Varkiza, Greece, drew 290 windsurfers from 31 nations, and the Medal Series proved once again that topping qualification guarantees you nothing. Turkey’s Artun Senol led the U19 Men all week and was duelling for the lead in the deciding race when he crashed on the final reach, handing gold to Kfir Nov (ISR). Cruel, but that’s the format.

Senol’s compatriot Ece Melis Bas beat the reigning world champion, Parla Kabasakal, to top an all-Turkish U17 Girls podium. Enric Patiño Riutord (ESP) turned his qualification lead into U17 Boys gold, and Taisiia Stopchenko (RUS), another reigning world champion, barely put a foot wrong on her way to the U19 Women’s title. Full results here.

Wingfoiling is edging towards the Olympics. World Sailing’s Events and Equipment Committees met on 13 October to weigh up how to reshape the Games programme for Brisbane 2032 and make the sport more commercially attractive. Nothing is decided yet, but wingfoil features in all three options that came out of it.

As per World Sailing’s report: “Wingfoiling can be developed around short-duration, close-to-shore racing incorporating different racing and expression elements, creating content that is visibly different from the remainder of the Olympic sailing programme."

Also on the table is mixed team racing as an 11th medal event, sailed 2v2 with one male and one female helm per nation and using sailors already qualified for the Games. It’s quick, watchable and cheap for nations, though it depends on World Sailing being happy with the funding and agreeing a governance deal with whoever delivers it.

The committee set out three recommendations for the Olympic sailing programme:

• Recommendation White: Mixed Dinghy (470) and Mixed Multihull (Nacra 17) retained as events and equipment; Men’s and Women’s Kite on a new event format and new equipment; new Men’s and Women’s Wingfoil events
• Recommendation Blue A: Mixed Dinghy (470) retained; Mixed Multihull on a new event format and new equipment; Men’s and Women’s Kite on a new event format and new equipment; new Men’s and Women’s Wingfoil events; new Mixed Team Tournament
• Recommendation Blue B: Mixed Dinghy on a new event format and new equipment; Mixed Multihull (Nacra 17) retained, subject to a format change and part of the equipment being supplied; Men’s and Women’s Kite on a new event format and new equipment; new Men’s and Women’s Wingfoil events; new Mixed Team Tournament

IRC is preparing a tougher regime for its fastest boats. At October’s IRC Congress in London, delegates saw plans for IRC Grand Prix – not a separate rule, the RORC Rating Office stresses, but extra certification and checks for selected high-performance fleets. Same formula, just more scrutiny of the data behind the rating.

Rotating rigs, interceptors, unusual appendages and movable ballast would face more detailed declarations and stricter weighing and measurement at designated events, borrowing from the Admiral’s Cup, the Sardinia Cup and the maxi scene. The hope is that it also reassures club racers that IRC hasn’t turned into a grand prix-only rule. While keeping one rule may be the right call, the bigger question is what the extra inspection will cost owners. Pilot events come first, with an announcement pencilled in for after the 2027 Admiral’s Cup.

The International Moth World Championship got going today at Mounts Bay Sailing Club in Perth, with 77 entries across the Foiler and Low Rider fleets racing on the Swan River until 12 November. Scott Babbage (Foiler) and Nigel Ferguson (Low Rider) won today's invitational race. The Australian Nationals follow on 3–4 November, with world championship racing from the 6th. Every year the Moth Worlds is where tomorrow’s foiling stars tend to make their names, so expect America’s Cup and SailGP team bosses to keep a close eye on proceedings.

The inaugural X-15 Wingfoil Worlds runs from 4 to 8 November at Club Mare Nostrum in Ibiza, with 112 riders from 26 nations – nearly half of them juniors. Athens 2004 Europe gold medallist Siren Sundby is among the Olympians in the field.

“What excites me is who will be on that start line," said Svein Rasmussen, founder of Starboard, which developed the class. "We have athletes who know what it takes to compete at the Olympic Games and young riders discovering how far they can go.”

With the sport growing fast and wingfoil in all three of World Sailing’s Olympic options, some of these youngsters could be at Brisbane 2032.

The J/24, the world’s most popular one-design keelboat, takes its Worlds to Sandringham Yacht Club in Melbourne from 4 to 11 November, with five days of racing on Port Phillip’s tricky waters from the 7th. With identical boats and tight limits on modifications, it all comes down to crew work and tactics – and with the Australians knowing these waters inside out, the visiting crews will need to get up to speed fast.

Six races on Biscayne Bay, one a day, run from 9 to 14 November for the Star Class World Championship. The Star left the Olympic programme after London 2012, yet 97 teams from 17 nations are heading to its Worlds at Coral Reef Yacht Club in Miami. Not bad for a class founded in 1911.

Paul Cayard and Frithjof Kleen defend their 2025 title, having already beaten Robert Scheidt and Austin Sperry on these waters at this year’s Bacardi Cup. Scheidt and Sperry have since been crowned European champions, so expect a rematch. Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Bruno Prada and two-time world champions Diego Negri and Sergio Lambertenghi are in the mix, while U30 European champions Nick Heuwinkel and Jesper Spehr lead the younger brigade. New North American champion Jack Jennings, now sailing with Pedro Trouche, is one to watch. Check out the full entry list here.

The Youth Olympic Games in Senegal, running until 13 November, are the first Olympic event held in Africa, and sailing starts on Sunday 8 November at Saly, a beach resort about 80km from Dakar. It’s windsurfing only, with 24 boys and 24 girls aged 14 to 16 on the Techno293, a version of which has featured at every Youth Olympics. No foils or frills, it's a forgiving board that keeps costs down and the door open to emerging sailing nations. For many, it’s a first taste of the Olympic stage.