The Cape 31 Mediterranean Circuit heads to Hyères, France, from Thursday 24 to Saturday 26 September for the fifth and final round of its 2026 season, with 20 teams entered and the overall championship title up for grabs.
Reigning champion Alessandro Rombelli's Stig leads the standings going into the French finale, while newly crowned UK champions Khumbu join the Mediterranean fleet ahead of next month's inaugural Cape 31 Gold Cup in Saint-Tropez.
The circuit has already visited Porto Cervo and Puntaldia in Sardinia, Bonifacio in Corsica and Scarlino in Tuscany, producing three different event winners from the opening four rounds.
Three Winners From Four Rounds
Stig began its title defence by winning the Porto Cervo opener ahead of Michael Wilson's Shotgunn and Kalantis.
Round two at Puntaldia went to Hatari, with Ahmet Eker's Eker Süzme second and Richard Thompson's Black Seal 2 third. August Schram's Stella Maris then took its first victory of the season in Bonifacio, ahead of Stig and Shotgunn, before winning again at Scarlino in July.
Young Austrian sailor Carla Waltersdorfer helmed Stella Maris in Schram's absence in Tuscany, where Christian Schwoerer's La Pericolosa finished second and Hatari third.
Stig Leads Championship Battle
Rombelli and Stig head to Hyères leading the overall standings on 13 points after their Porto Cervo victory and three further top-six finishes. Stella Maris is second on 17 points following its consecutive victories, with Shotgunn third on 19 points and La Pericolosa fourth on 20.
Richard Thompson's Black Seal 2 and Vittorio Lombardi Stronati's Django complete the current top six on 24 and 25 points respectively. With Shotgunn absent from the Hyères entry list, the final regatta offers the chasing teams an opportunity to change the championship order.
The overall champions will be formally crowned at the opening reception for the inaugural Cape 31 Gold Cup in Saint-Tropez on 13 October.
UK Champions Join Hyères Fleet
Among the newcomers for Hyères are German teams Niramo, owned by Sönke Meier-Sawatzki, and Michael Berghorn's halbtrocken 3.1.
Niramo arrives after winning the ORC C division at the 44th Copa del Rey MAPFRE in Palma, where five Cape 31s competed in the 21-boat division. Guy Gillon's Khumbu will also race in Hyères after securing both the 2026 Cape 31 UK National Championship and the overall UK season title.
Nikolai Burkart's Gecko d'or is another addition to the fleet.
The French contingent is strengthened by 24-year-old Victor Bordes, who has purchased Cape 31 hull number two and will make his Mediterranean Circuit debut with his young amateur team Outrage. Bordes and his crew have been preparing and upgrading the boat ahead of their first Mediterranean one-design event and the Gold Cup.
28 Boats Await at Saint-Tropez Gold Cup
Hyères will be the fleet's final competitive outing before the inaugural Cape 31 Gold Cup, hosted by the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez from 12–17 October.
As previously reported by Afloat, a record 28-boat Cape 31 fleet is entered for the Gold Cup, bringing together teams from the class's international circuits.
Four days of Gold Cup racing are scheduled from 14–17 October, giving many crews a final chance to test themselves against one another before moving on to Saint-Tropez.
First, however, the Mediterranean Circuit title remains to be settled, with three days of racing scheduled in Hyères from Thursday to Saturday.
