From September 24 to 26, 2026, Salis Bay in Antibes will host a regatta unlike any other: disabled and able-bodied teenagers will race there together, on the same boats, during the 4th edition of IBSA Regatta.
The event, presented by its organizers as the first international hand-sailing regatta for under-18s, wants to show disability differently, through competition, the collective and the presence of families as much as through the sporting result.
A junior competition that shakes up the codes
September 25 and 26, 45 crewseither
90 adolescents aged 12 to 17are expected on the starting line in Salis Bay. Young French sailors must meet crews announced from England, Belgium, Italy, Germany and Monaco, for a disabled regatta considered international.
Born in 2023 from the meeting between Fabrice Jover (IBSA Pharma) and Jérémie Chauchoy (Handivoile Développement France), IBSA Regatta is described by its organizers as “unique in the world for under 18s“and growing rapidly: the document highlights a number of participants”doubled in 4 years” and a “record” of 45 crews for 2026. The program provides for the arrival of competitors and training on Thursday September 24, a first day of regattas and the official opening on Friday 25, then the finals and the prize giving on Saturday 26 at 5 p.m.
Sailboats adapted to sail on an equal footing
All the young people will race on the same support: two-seater Hansa 303s, 3.03 meter sailboats designed to adapt to most handicaps. According to the description provided, these boats have a 30 kg keel which prevents them from capsizing and should allow everyone to set sail in enhanced safety conditions, whatever their disability.
Racing on identical boats is presented as a guarantee of sporting fairness. “Sailing is one of the few sports that allows everyone to sail on an equal footing, regardless of their disability“underlines Fabrice Jover, general director of IBSA Pharma, quoted in the press release. The disabled-disabled formula chosen thus places performance, maneuvers and crew cohesion at the center, rather than the type of disability.
On the quay, disability told through action
On the water, the regatta remains a competition with starts, maneuvers and finals. On land, the organizers highlight another dimension: families who encourage, children who discover the sea in a different way, mobilized volunteers. The stated objective is to “treat disability differently: without miserabilism, but through action, surpassing oneself, conviviality and performance”.
According to Fabrice Jover, this regatta has also become, over the years, a meeting place for parents of disabled children, who find there a space for discussion around daily life and support. “Seeing these young people progress, surpass themselves, flourish and form real friendships is what drives us.”he explains.
The sponsor of the event since the first edition, Nathan Mesiano, is presented as a symbol of these possible trajectories: this young sailor has the project of participating in the Mini-Transat in 2027, a solo transatlantic, a step which he sees as a first step towards one day taking the start of the Vendée Globe. Here again, the idea is less to promise a result than to show, through this Antibes regatta, how disability can find its place in high-level sporting ambitions.