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Optimist, ILCA, 29er, 420, Open 5.70, Open Skiff, RS Feva, Tyka, Nacra 15, and J70: From August 18 to 27, 2026, the French Youth Solo and Crew Championships brought boats with very different handling characteristics to the Étang de Berre. More than 900 young sailors participated in this year?s event, held in Martigues. From races dominated by one sailor to standings decided in the final races, the ten days of racing produced a wide variety of scenarios.
Three final rounds to decide the first part
The first phase of the championship concluded on August 22, 2026, under conditions that allowed race officials to complete the schedule. With steady winds, all fleets completed three races on the final day.
In the girls? Optimist class, Lilou Backes capped off her final season in this class with the national title. The sailor from the Yacht Club de la Pointe Rouge finished ahead of Lou Blanchard and Camille Ollivier.
In the boys? division, Louis Henry had a much more eventful final day. After a victory followed by a second-place finish, the CN Breizh Rance sailor attempted a port-side start in the final race. Trapped in traffic, he could do no better than 22nd. Nevertheless, the lead he built up throughout the championship allowed him to hold on to first place ahead of Paul Masson and Louis Malausse.
Two very different ways to win the same title: maintaining control until the very end, or having a sufficient lead to weather a bad round.
The ILCA rewards both victories and consistency
The various ILCA classes produced some of the most impressive performances in this first part.
In the women's ILCA 4 class, Elena Ezraty, a member of La Pelle Marseille, won six of the ten valid races. She finished ahead of Elise La Corre and Luce Langumier.
In the boys' division, Anthony Eggenspieler took the title ahead of Charles Ganivet and Martin Liaudois. His championship run was built more on consistency than on a string of victories.
The competition is even tighter in the boys? ILCA 6 class. Tugdual Brand Gazeau and Côme Henry, both from Le Havre but representing different clubs, finished just one point apart. The title went to Gazeau, while Alexandre Vidal rounded out the podium.
In the women's division, Capucine Deltel gave her competitors little room to maneuver. The sailor from the Cannes Yacht Club finished every race in first or second place. Constance Kowalski and Paloma Lopez de Silanes finished behind her.
In the ILCA 7 class, Brittany swept the top three spots on the podium. Ethan Chauvry took first place ahead of Étienne Seizeur and Eliott Barre.
In the 29er class, the world champions prove their dominance in Martigues
With eleven races completed, the 29er crews had plenty of opportunities to demonstrate their consistency.
In the women's division, Victoire Papin and Tsippora Jouan won the title in their final season in the skiff. Salomé Joly and Aline Tacquet took second place, ahead of Camille Caullier and Justine Barbarin.
In the men's and mixed divisions, Alexandre Mostini and Raphaël Allain arrived in Martigues in a special position, having just won the 29er World Championship.
They sealed the deal on the Étang de Berre with five race wins and the national title. Hugo Madec and Guirec Gendrot finished second, while Quentin Bourrust and Gautier Neau came in third.
On a 29er, where gaps can quickly widen as soon as the wind picks up, the multiple races limit the possibility of winning the championship based on a single strong result. You have to string together clean starts, stay fast, and avoid major mistakes.
The 420 and the Open 5.70 Are Changing the Pace of Regattas
The 420 brings a different dimension to the competition. Jeanne Amirault and Frédéric Flandorffer won the Open division, ahead of Bertille and Colin Postel, followed by Simon Prot and Juliette Peyre.
The arrival of the Open 5.70 is changing the game once again. We?re moving from dinghies to crewed, sport-class keelboats.
Jeff Janssens, Simon De Pannemaecker, and Paul Debaig had a major impact on their series. The Gironde-based crew won six of the eleven races and clinched the title ahead of the crews led by Mathieu Le Cléach and Pauline Watts.
Whether it?s a solo Optimist or a crewed Open 5.70, the body of water remains the same, but the way a race is run changes completely. Acceleration off the line, momentum, movement on board, and anticipating maneuvers all require different interpretations of the course.
Open Skiff and RS Feva: Titles Earned Through Consistency
After the series change, a new wave of competitors took over the Martigues site.
In the girls? Open Skiff, Océane Begue took the lead on the second day. The CN Arradon athlete never relinquished her lead in the standings. Her two worst results of the week were fourth-place finishes. She finished three points ahead of Capucine Bouron, while Augustine Bourc'his took third place.
In the boys' division, Côme Zunquin set the tone right from the start with three consecutive wins. And he finished just as he had started, winning the final race.
Liam Bourget was the only one who really kept up the pressure with four wins this week. Lubin Fayard took third place.
The RS Feva class allowed Lilou Backes to claim a one-two finish in Martigues. A few days after winning the Optimist title, she took first place in the doubles event with Gianni Pasero.
Aurele Dion and Liv Morel finished second. However, they were under pressure toward the end of the championship after a poor result the day before. A third-place finish in the final race allowed them to maintain a three-point lead over Léonie Maurey and Anthony Eggenspieler.
In the Nacra 15 class, just one point after the final races
With 43 entrants, the Nacra 15 was one of the largest fleets in the second half of the competition. And the championship came down to the wire.
Going into the last two races, Loevan Tafanel and Victor Papineau were one point behind François David Petit Nino and Noé Guevel. Both crews then scored exactly four points that day.
Tafanel and Papineau each finished in second place twice. Petit Nino and Guevel responded with a third-place finish and a victory.
As a result, nothing changes. They are still separated by one point in the final standings, and Tafanel and Papineau take the title. Félix Tron and Antoine Lajouanie finish in third place.
The Tyka race unfolded differently. Despite a mechanical failure in the ninth race, Noel Quentin and Quentin Vuachet Robin maintained a sufficient lead to win the title ahead of Colin LeToublon and Charles Chapelin.
Third place came down to a tie in points. Lucas Lefortier and Eliot Bisson Herran ultimately came out on top thanks to their better race results.
The J70 capsized during the last two races
The mixed J70 fleet provided one of the most dramatic turnarounds of the final day.
Sud 5 went into the final races in second place in the overall standings. If they wanted to win the title, Jean Philippe Boudard and his crew had little choice: they had to have a strong day.
They won both matches.
This final series allowed them to overtake Bretagne 1 and win the championship. Normandie 3 held on to third place despite finishing seventh and fifth?its two worst results of the week.
The J70 brings a unique element to these French Youth Championships. Since the boats are used in a shared fleet, the competition depends less on differences in equipment preparation. And with several crew members to coordinate, maneuvers and communication take on greater importance than in a solo race.
The Southeast Steps Up on the Final Day
The second half of the championship ended on August 27, 2026, amid strong southeasterly winds.
The final legs thus required the crews to manage both their position in the standings and more physically demanding conditions. For some, it was time to go on the offensive. For others, the main priority was to avoid breakdowns and major setbacks.
After ten days of racing, the various scenarios provide a fairly good summary of what Martigues had to offer: clear-cut victories like Côme Zunquin?s in the Open Skiff, series dominated by consistency, titles decided by a single point in the Nacra 15, and a reversal in the standings during the final two races in the J70.
From solo sailboats to keelboats in a shared fleet, the Étang de Berre imposed one common rule above all: even after several days of racing, some medals didn?t decide the winner until the very last legs.
