Trophée Laura Vergne – Double

A tribute at sea that launches the Figaro season

Laura Vergne shaped the Figaro Class for two decades, fighting for skipper remuneration and circuit credibility with sponsors between 1980 and 2000. Since 2023, the trophy bearing her name has perpetuated this legacy with each edition. In 2026, from March 27 to April 6, 22 doublehanded crews will start from La Trinité-sur-Mer for what has now become the true season opener on the Atlantic circuit.

Yann Eliès, three-time winner of La Solitaire, sums up the spirit of the race: "The tribute to Laura Vergne at this Académie Figaro Bénéteau Trophy is a beautiful link between different generations. It's important for young sailors to learn about this woman, to understand everything we owe her."

Organized by the Société Nautique de La Trinité-sur-Mer in collaboration with Ouest-France, the race features on the calendar of the French Elite Offshore Racing Championship and the Académie Figaro Bénéteau. Its prize-giving, scheduled alongside the opening ceremony of the 48th Spi Ouest-France Banque Populaire Grand Ouest, gives it considerable media resonance.

350 offshore miles, then knife-edge racing in Quiberon Bay

The Long Race: Ouessant, the Loire, and back

The heart of the event remains the offshore course — approximately 350 nautical miles linking La Trinité to Ouessant, then heading back down toward the Loire estuary before returning to the home port. A route that concentrates all the Breton challenges: Fromveur currents, site effects at the tip of Brittany, tricky thermal transitions off the estuary. Estimated duration for doublehanded crews: 48 hours of continuous effort.

Coastal racing up close

Complementing the offshore leg, coastal courses in Quiberon Bay — windward-leewards and short inshores — test maneuver precision and water reading. No respite: these tightly contested races can swing the overall standings.

The hybrid format forces each duo to excel in two radically different registers. This is precisely the versatility the Figaro Class seeks to promote.

Day-by-day schedule

Final sailing instructions may adjust this calendar, but the structure remains the same: opening coastals, offshore, closing coastals.

Find the complete Figaro season calendar on spencer.club.

22 duos at the start: crews to watch

The depth of the 2026 fleet is immediately striking. Circuit headliners and young talents from the Académie Figaro meet on the same starting line, embodying the generational transmission dear to Laura Vergne.

The Le Pape – Eliès duo draws all eyes. Pairing a young gun with a sailor of this caliber is exactly what the Trophy is meant to produce. But Charlotte Yven and Loïs Berrehar, sailing under Macif colors, have a well-oiled machine that makes them logical favorites for this season opener.

First crash test of the season

A full-scale shakedown

After the winter yards, the Trophée Laura Vergne serves as a laboratory. This is where teams validate their new sail configurations, refine their Figaro Bénéteau 3 settings, and test crew cohesion. The doublehanded format demands specific sleep and effort management, ideal preparation for crewed transats or the long legs of La Solitaire.

Showcase for partners

The synergy with the Spi Ouest-France — Europe's largest cruising monohull regatta — offers an exposure window of nearly two weeks. Garmin, Honda Marine, Saint-James, and Banque Populaire Grand Ouest activate their partnerships during this pivotal period when sailing and mainstream media converge on La Trinité.

The unknowns of late March in South Brittany

Three factors will weigh on the event's outcome:

• Transitional weather. Late March, South Brittany hesitates between late winter depressions (gusts exceeding 30 knots) and anticyclonic calms. Race management will need to adapt the offshore course if conditions demand it.
• Physical sequence. Intense coastals followed by 48 hours offshore, with minimal rest before the Spi Ouest-France for those who continue: fatigue management will be a ruthless selection factor.
• Safety in dense fleet. Twenty-two Figaro 3s rounding the Brittany headland, at night, in violent currents — the SNT and its safety resources will be on maximum alert.

This 2026 Trophée Laura Vergne marks an edition of maturity. The third of its name, the event has found its rhythm, its audience, and its sporting purpose. When the first duos cross the line off La Trinité on March 30, the entire Figaro season hierarchy will begin to take shape.

Compare the competing boats and follow the results on spencer.club.