Cascais, Portugal – 6 September 2022 – The opening day of the 2022 Six Metre European Championship in Cascais produced champagne sailing conditions enabling both scheduled races to be completed in an eight to twelve knot westerly breeze which clocked gently right as the afternoon wore on.

A third in race one and a convincing win in race two put Portuguese Olympian Patrick Monteiro de Barros and his Pelle Petterson designed Seljm into the lead in the Open Division. Reigning Six Metre World Champion Momo, with owner Dieter Schoen of Switzerland at the helm, won the first racing in style from Violeta Alvarez’s Stella but was then over eager on the second start and had to return. Momo dug deep and fought back to sixth place, putting her into second overall. Fellow Swiss Jan Eckert’s Ginkgo Too finished fifth and second so counts the same points as Momo, but takes third place overall on countback.

In the Classic Division Ross Macdonald at the helm of Bribon 500 and Andy & Lisa Postle’s Nirvana gave notice that they will be the boats to beat. Nirvana took the first race from Bribon 500 with Thomas Kuhmann’s Hanko III third. In race two Bribon 500 took an early lead on the fleet which she then extend impressively all the way to the finish. Mauricio Sanchez Bella’s Titia took second and Nirvana was third. In the Classic Division overall standings Bribon 500 has a single point lead over Nirvana with Titia and Hanko III both counting eight points but Titia lying third on countback.

After sailing Patrick Monteiro de Barros commented “It was Cascais at its best. It was very good sailing, steady wind and it shifted a little bit but a great sailing day. We had a very good start and we had a strategy to go to the right which normally is the favoured angle. We had very good speed, the boat is going well, the crew is fantastic.”

The defending European Open Division Champion crew of Thisbee, owned by Michel Teweles and Philip Durr, came off the water relatively pleased with a fourth and third place, but were protest by Seljm regarding a tacking incident in race one. The jury found that Thisbe had been on starboard and converging with Seljm on port. Seljm was taking appropriate avoiding action as the boats closed, but Thisbe then tacked into the path of Seljm forcing them to luff head to wind to avoid a collision. As a result Thisbe was disqualified and ended the day down in eighth place.

Olympic Flying Dutchman Gold Medallist Alejandro Abascal of Bribon 500 was also very pleased with the racing conditions today. “It has been a very nice day. Again very nice wind. We expected lighter winds but we had almost 13 knots so it was a very good day for sailing. I hope tomorrow we have the same as today as this wind is nice for us so more like today will be perfect.”

As well as running great racing the Clube Naval de Cascais is also doing a great job of the organisation and hospitality. The boats are moored in the Cascais Marina and each day club RIBs are on standby to tow boats which do not have their own support boat in and out of their berths. The club puts a high priority on the environment and runs an impressive online notice board and notification system to ensure paper is not wasted. A cold water station is located by the entrance to the club so that competitors can refill reusable water bottles at any time and everyone has been asked not to use chemicals when washing off the boats and to keep rubbish, and particularly single use plastics, to a minimum. The Portuguese are famous for their hospitality and the CNC is welcoming the sailors home each day with a generous spread of canapés and delicious local wines and beers, much to the delight of everyone competing.

The forecast for day two is for more light to moderate winds and the Race Committee has confirmed that it intends to get racing underway at 14:00 with races three and four of the series scheduled. Racing for the Championship continues until Saturday 10 September. A total of eight races are scheduled with five being required to declare a valid championship. Once six races have been completed a single race discard will be introduced.

Provisional Top Five Results After Two Races

Open Division

1st – POR4 – Seljm – Patrick Monteiro de Barros – 3, 1 = 4
2nd – SUI142 – Momo – Dieter Schoen – 1, 6 = 7
3rd – SUI140 – Ginkgo Too – Jan Eckert – 5, 2 = 7
4th – GBR86 – Scoundrel One – Vasco Pereira – 4, 4 = 8
5th – ESP16 – Stella – Violeta Alvarez – 2, 9 = 11

Classic Division

1st – ESP16 – Bribon 500 – Ross Macdonald – 2, 1 = 3
2nd – GBR33 – Nirvana – Andy & Lisa Postle – 1, 3 = 4
3rd – ESP72 – Titia – Mauricio Sanchez Bella – 6, 2 = 8
4th – USA96 – Hanko III – Thomas Kuhmann – 3, 5 = 8
5th – ROU65 – Essentia – Catalin Trandafir – 4, 4 = 8

Cascais, Portugal – 5 September 2022 – International Six Metre crews are gathering at the Clube Naval de Cascais (CNC) in Portugal for the 2022 International Six Metre European Championship, which will take place from 6 to 10 September. They have travelled from as far afield as the Pacific North West and New York in the USA and Finland and Romania in Europe to participate in this first major International Six Metre championship to be held off Cascais.

International Six Metre Association (ISMA) Chairman Louis Heckly summed up the fleet’s excitement to race at this spectacular venue saying; “I can’t wait, unfortunately as a spectator this time, to attend this first ISMA championship held in Cascais and we are all very excited for the competition. The Club’s reputation for organising World class events is second to none and the arriving teams are being made incredibly welcome. The forecast for the week looks great with moderate breezes and glorious warm sunshine expected. With some of the top teams and sailors from across Europe and North America travelling to the event the racing is going to be really tight.”

The fleet will be divided into two divisions, the Open and Classic Divisions, and the oldest boat racing will be Ted Schauman’s Lisbeth V from Finland, which was designed in 1932 by the legendary Johan Anker and built in Norway by Anker & Jensen Byggnadsår. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the newest boat competing will be Dieter Schoen’s Momo, designed by Judel Vrolijk, built by Christof Wilke and only launched earlier this year.

The reigning Open Division Champion, Michael Teweles and Philip Durr’s Thisbe, a 1987 Pelle Petterson design, will be mounting a strong defence of her title but faces stiff competition. At her maiden outing at the Six Metre Worlds in Sanxenxo in June, Momo put in a dazzling performance to win with confidence and she will no doubt be hoping to claim her second major title in Cascais. The Clube Naval de Cascais’s Honorary Commodore Patrick Monteiro De Barros, the man responsible for bringing the event to the CNC, has made the podium at many Six Metre events aboard his 1988 Pelle Petterson designed Seljm. This time he will be hoping to leverage home water advantage and add his name to the Coppa Giovanelli, which was presented by the Yacht Club Italiano as the perpetual challenge cup of the Open Championship.

Bribon 500, designed in 1947 by Arvind Laurin and helmed for this event by five time Olympian and double Olympic Medallist Ross MacDonald, will defend her Classic European title. Her challengers for the right to add their name to the President Woodrow Wilson Trophy include Romanian Catalin Trandafir’s 1956 Sparkman & Stephens designed Essentia, whose crew includes Olympic medallists Eric Jespersen and Hugo Rocha, and Spain’s Mauricio Sanchez Bella aboard the 1952 David Boyd designed Titia.

Ahead of the Championship many of the boats took part in the HM King Juan Carlos Trophy Regatta, which was raced from 2 to 4 September. The regatta provided the perfect opportunity for crews to familiarise themselves with the race area, and after three days of sailing six closely fought races had been completed. In the Open Division victory went to Momo by a two point margin from Seljm with Jan Eckert’s 2020 Javier Cela designed Ginkgo Too taking third. The Classic Division was won by Bribon 500 with Titia second and Essentia third.

The CNC has a very well deserved reputation for running outstanding international events and is as famous for its hospitality as its race management. The Championship social programme kicked off with a Welcome Reception on the club’s delightful waterfront terrace where Commodore José Sotto Mayor Matoso welcomed the competitors and thanked them for travelling to the far west of Europe to compete.

A well known Dragon sailor, José noted that some of the competitors this week already know Cascais well from the many Dragon events the club has hosted. But he warned them to expect rather different conditions for this Championship. He explained that whilst Cascais has a reputation as a strong wind venue, in fact during late summer the wind traditionally swings into the south and becomes much lighter, conditions which ideally suit the beautiful Sixes and a significant factor in deciding the timing of the regatta. With the forecast set for five days of glorious sailing he wished the competitors a successful event and invited them to enjoy all the delights that the beautiful town of Cascais has to offer.

Racing for the Championship is scheduled to commence at 14:00 on Tuesday 6 September when two races are planned. A total of eight races are scheduled with five racing being required to declare a valid championship. Once six races have been completed a single race discard will be introduced.

Further information about the Championship can be found at the event website, at www.6metre.com and on the ISMA Facebook page .

For additional information and images please contact ISMA Press Officer Fiona Brown on fiona.brown@fionabrown.com or +44 7711 718470