Aurélien Barthélémy’s Réunion team has confirmed its place on the Tour Voile 2026 start line, bringing strengthened credentials after a breakthrough season that included a podium finish at the event’s flagship race.
The Figaro Beneteau 3 offshore racing campaign will run from 24 June to 12 July 2026. For Réunion, this marks a third consecutive participation in the Tour Voile, one of France’s premier competitive sailing series. The confirmation of entry represents not merely a return, but a statement of intent: the team arrives with clearly elevated ambitions built on genuine competitive achievement rather than hope alone.
Building momentum from 2025 success
Barthélémy’s crew comes to the 2026 edition off the back of an impressive 2025 campaign that saw them progress steadily through the season before delivering standout performances in the latter stages. The turning point came at Tour Voile 2025, the centrepiece event of their racing calendar, where the team recovered from a slow start to demonstrate genuine competitive pace.
The crew secured third place in the overall standings at Tour Voile 2025—a significant result that signals they have the pace to compete with the series’ top contenders. That achievement was highlighted by victory at Port-La-Forêt, the final stage of the 2025 event, showing they had found their rhythm at exactly the right moment. The second half of the race proved transformative: after struggling in the opening legs, the team’s performance improvement was dramatic enough to vault them onto the podium and secure the prestigious final-stage victory.
The progression evident in Réunion’s 2025 form—marked by improved consistency and tactical sharpness in the back half of the season—has evidently convinced the team that 2026 offers a genuine opportunity to target higher placing in one of offshore racing’s most demanding calendars. This wasn’t a flash of luck; it was a demonstration of growing capability under pressure.
Elevated expectations for 2026
Having spent recent years building experience within the Tour Voile ecosystem, Réunion is now positioning itself as a threat to the established frontrunners. The team has clearly signalled its intent by confirming entry well ahead of the June start date, suggesting thorough preparation and resource commitment for the upcoming campaign.
The Tour Voile attracts some of France’s most competitive Figaro Beneteau 3 teams and skippers. For a crew to move from developing their program to openly declaring upgraded ambitions reflects genuine confidence in their current trajectory and the lessons learned from their previous two campaigns.
With momentum from 2025, a third consecutive campaign under their belt will bring deeper familiarity with the series’ rhythm, formats, and venues—advantages that favour consistency and tactical execution, areas where Réunion showed particular improvement during their recent podium run. That accumulated knowledge, combined with the confidence that comes from a proven podium finish, positions them well for a more competitive showing across the full duration of the 2026 event.
