The opening day at the International Six Metre 2026 European Championships at the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) on Lake Geneva, Switzerland delivered two highly competitive races sailed in a shifting 6-7 knot northerly breeze.
Leading in the Open Championship, with a win in the first race and a sixth in Race 2, is Dieter Schön’s IVB145 Momo. In the Classic Championship, His Majesty King Juan Carlos I of Spain’s ESP16 Bribon – the defending European Champions – leads, after a fourth and a second today.
Warm sunshine and ultra-light winds prevailed when the competitors assembled this morning at the SNG, triggering the AP flag to be flown at 1045 as the race committee scanned the lake and their weather models for enough breeze for racing.
Happily, at around 1300 a northerly breeze began to fill in across the championships’ northerly racecourse, and the fleet headed out on the lake, where racing got underway at around 1445. The shifty, patchy breeze made it very much an eyes-out-of-the-boat day and both races offered up plenty of opportunities to make big gains and losses, both upwind and downwind.
In the Open fleet’s first race, after an initial general recall start, Dieter Schön’s IVB145 Momo got off the line cleanly at the pin end and worked the middle of the beat perfectly to lead around the first windward mark. Second to round was Basil Vasiliou’s USA145 Jane Ann, ahead of the newly crowned Swiss Champion Eric Monnin on SUI100 Duclop. These top three boats held their positions to the finish, with Michel Vaucher’s SUI135 Saint-Francis taking fourth, ahead of Jamie Hilton’s SUI144 Eau Vive in fifth.
Race 1 in the Classic Championship saw Mauricio Sanchez-Bella Carswell’s ESP72 Titia round the windward mark ahead of His Majesty King Juan Carlos I of Spain’s ESP16 Bribon in second, with Violeta Alvarez on GBR57 Erica hot on their transoms in third.
By the end of the first run, Erica had edged ahead to round the left-hand mark a fraction ahead of Bribon at the right-hand mark. This battle for the lead raged for the rest of the race and was only decided at the finish line where the two leaders finished overlapping, with Erica managing to stay ahead to take the winning gun. Bribon finished second, with Louis Heckly’s FRA11 Fun coming home close behind in third.
In the second race, the Open fleet got away cleanly at the first time of asking, with Foti Lykiardopulo’s GRE1 Aera leading around the first windward mark, ahead of Michel Teweles’s SUI72 Jeu du Vent in second, and Loic Forestier’s SUI77 Junior in third. With the breeze beginning to slowly fade and become even more patchy, the Aera crew sailed a smart race to hold their lead to the finish, while behind them a fierce battle between Jeu du Vent and Junior finally went Forestier’s way, with Junior taking second and Jeu du Vent third.
The Classic fleet’s second race saw Ossi Paija’s FIN80 Astrée III deliver a convincing win, after overtaking the top three boats at the first windward mark – Andy Postle’s GBR33 Nirvana, Philippe Durr’s SUI44 Astrée, and FRA11 Fun – on the first downwind leg. At the finish, it was Nirvana in second, Fun in third, ahead of Bribon in fourth, and Reinhard Suhner’s SUI45 Mecara in fifth.
Open Championship leader Dieter Schön described the conditions out on the water today as ‘hot and difficult’. He paid tribute to Momo tactician Marcus Weisser for making sense of the patchy and shifty breeze. “There were a lot of pressure differences around the course,” he said. “But it was fair racing – so all good. It is a difficult week with not very much wind expected, so the race officer has to take what he gets. But overall, we are happy with the day, happy with the result, and we keep on going. We have a good boat, a good tactician and a good crew where everyone tries their best.”
Second in the Open Championship after Day 1 is Eric Monnin on SUI100 Duclop, with Jamie Hilton’s SUI144 Eau Vive in third.
Calling tactics on Classic Championship leader Bribon is Alejandro Abascal, who agreed that the wind had been extremely light and shifty throughout the day.
“That made it very difficult to be consistent,” he said. “You had to be paying attention all the time. We started well in the first race but in the second we were a bit late and had to take a lot of transoms to get to the right.”
Abascal said there were no consistent patterns in the breeze from one lap to the next.
“You just have to be there in the moment,” he said. “This fleet is very competitive – everyone is fast – and it’s going to be an interesting week.”
Bribon holds the lead in the Classic Championship, albeit tied on points with Louis Heckly’s FRA11 Fun, in second, and Violeta Alvarez on GBR57 Erica in third.
Racing at the International Six Metre European Championship at the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) on Lake Geneva continues tomorrow, Monday, July 20, and runs through until Friday, July 24.
International 6 Metre Association 