Cascais, Portugal – 10 September 2022 – A spectacular photo finish eighth race brought the 2022 International Six Metre European Championship to a conclusion after five glorious days of racing off Cascais. Going into the day overnight leader Patrick Montiero de Baross’s Seljm, John Harald Ornerberg’s Scoundrel One, which had been helmed until the final day by Vasco Pereira, and Dieter Schoen’s Momo were separated by just two points leaving the regatta wide open.

Momo got a great start and led the fleet at the first mark, but she still needed to have at least one boat between her and Seljm to win. Things looked good though as Scoundrel One rounded fifth and Seljm sixth, so all Momo could do was sail fast and hope for the best. She confidently extended her lead, but Seljm was on a charge and with each leg made up places. As the boats turned onto the final run the spectators were on the edge of their seats as Seljm produced impressive downwind speed, closing on the leaders all the way to the finish line. Momo won the race by a minute and a half but immediately checked back up the track. Seljm had sailed a blinder of a last run to pull right up, but it was Stephan Lindberg’s Jane Ann that snatched second place. Jeremy Thorpe’s Battlecry, Jan Eckert’s Ginkgo Too and Seljm surfed into the line absolutely bow to bow and only a last minute surge right on the line put Seljm millimetres ahead of her rivals and onto equal points with Momo. Seljm’s crew had sailed their socks off, but Momo had one more race win to her name and so was declared the 2022 International Six Metre Open Division European Champion. Seljm claimed the silver medal and Scoundrel One crossed the line in seventh place to take the final step on the Open Division podium.

Momo is the newest Six Metre in the fleet, having been launched earlier this year, and her team of owner/helm Dieter Schoen, Markus Wieser, Dirk De Ridder, Ross Halcrow and Victor Marino Prieto have already made their mark on the class. The team has been sailing together for several years in 5.5s and Maxi 72s, twice winning the Maxi 72 World Championship, and they came to the class keen to succeed. A Judel/Vrolijk designed boat built by Wilke in Switzerland, Momo hit the ground running earlier this year with a win at the 2022 World Championship in Cascais. Their victory here in Cascais was hard won, but it’s clear they are no one hit wonder and are here to stay.

After receiving the Coppa Giovanelli perpetual trophy at the Prize Giving owner Dieter Schoen paid tribute to his fellow competitors and thanked the organisers and his crew saying, “I would like to say thank you to Patrick de Barros and Scoundrel One for a great fight this week. I would like to say thank you to the club for a great job and great sailing. And I would like to thank my crew, we’re a good team I think and we made it again.”

In the Classic Division Bribon 500, helmed by Ross Macdonald with crew Alejandro Abascal, Alberto Viejo, Eduardo Marin and Roi Alvarez, had already been declared the 2022 Champion with a race to spare, and Catalin Trandafir’s Essentia had been confirmed as Vice Champion. Both boats nonetheless elected to come out to take advantage of the wonderful sailing for one last race, and to witness the fight between Mauricio Sanchez Bella’s Titia and Andy and Lisa Postle’s Nirvana for the bronze medal. From the off Titia had the upper hand over Nirvana, who has not been on her usual good form this week, and she enjoyed a terrific battle with Bribon 500 and Essentia, with the three boats trading places all the way round the course. On the final run Titia just snuck in to take the line from Essential then Bribon and confirm her bronze medal place overall

This is the second time that Ross Macdonald has won the Classic Six Metre European Championship at the helm of Bribon 500, the first being in 2012 in Nynasham. The boat was designed in 1947 by Arvid Laurin and built by Plym in Neglinge, Sweden for Harry Nystrom who named her Gallant. Laurin was considered a radical designer in his time and created only 3 sixes; Sinkadus (1939), Gallant (1947) and Trickson VI (1948). After just a few seasons sailing in Sweden she was shipped to Canada where she sailed on Lake Ontario for many years. In 2004 she was purchased and rebuilt by Eric Jespersen, who has been sailing aboard Essentia this week. In her, Eric Jespersen, with his father and son as crew, won the 2009 Classic World Championships in Newport, Rhode Island. His Majesty King Juan Carlos de Borbon sailed her to victory under the Bribon name at the 2017 and 2018 Classic World Championships. With Pedro Campos at the helm she also won the 2021 Classic Europeans and 2022 Classic Worlds, making her without doubt one of the most successful Classic Sixes ever.

One of the most remarkable things about the Sixes is their longevity and the ability of boats of vastly differing ages to race on a level playing field. That the 1986 Petterson designed Scoundrel One and the 1988 Howlett designed Battlecry were able to take on and regularly beat the much newer boats in the Open Division is testament to the quality of the designs and the skilful management of the class rules. It also makes it possible to be truly competitive in the class at a range of budget points.

After racing the competitors gathered on the Club Naval de Cascais (CNC) terrace for the final prize giving. Alongside the main trophies two special awards were presented. The Lucie Trophy, for the highest placed yacht which includes a woman as helm or crew, was presented to Titia, whose crew includes Alicia Freire. The IYRS Astor Cup, for the highest placed boat which includes a crew or helm aged 25 years or under was presented to Ginkgo Too, several of whose crew qualify. The Shipshape Trophy for the winner of the Open Division Practice Race was won by Jeremy Thorp’s Battlecry and the Maharajah of Djeezupuhr Trophy for the winner of the Classic Division Practice Race went to Ted Schauman’s Lisbeth V, the oldest boat in the competition having been designed by Johan Anker in 1932.

International Six Metre Association Chairman Louis Heckly was full of praise for the event saying, “It’s been a delight to be here in Cascais. We’ve had outstanding racing and today could not have been a more exciting finale. On behalf of all the sailors I would like to express our gratitude to the Clube Naval de Cascais for their exceptional hospitality and superb organisation. My particular thanks go to CNC Honorary Commodore Patrick de Barros for inviting us to come to this beautiful venue and and being the driving force behind the event. Finally I would like to congratulate our new champions Momo and Bribon 500 who both sailed superbly!”

Huge thanks must go to the members and staff of the Clube Naval de Cascais, to the Race Committee and the International Jury, and to the sponsors of the event which included the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal Tourism, the Portuguese Sailing Federation, Cascais Marina, Vista Alegre, Sagres & Leito and Irmao.

The next international championship for the class will be the 2023 Six Metre World Championship which will be hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron and the British Six Metre Association in Cowes, UK, from 31 August to 8 September 2023. Further information on this event will be available shortly from http://www.6mr.org.uk.

Six Metre European Championship 2022 Final Results – Top Five

Open Division

1st – SUI142 – Momo – Dieter Schoen – 1, 6, 1, (DSQ(11)), 4, 2, 3, 1 = 18
2nd – POR4 – Seljm – Patrick Monteiro de Barros – 3, 1, (7), 1, 5, 4, 1, 3 = 18
3rd – GBR86 – Scoundrel One – Vasco Pereira – 4, 4, 2, (8), 1, 1, 4, 7 = 23
4th – SUI140 – Ginkgo Too – Jan Eckert – 5, 2, 4, 3, (8), 3, 5, 4 = 26
5th – ESP16 – Stella – Violeta Alvarez – 2, (9), 3, 2, 6, 6, 6, 6 = 31

Classic Division

1st – ESP16 – Bribon 500 – Ross Macdonald – 2, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, (3) = 10
2nd – ROU65 – Essentia – Catalin Trandafir – (4), 4, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 2 = 17
3rd – ESP72 – Titia – Mauricio Sanchez Bella – (6), 2, 5, 5, 3, 3, 1, 1 = 20
4th – GBR33 – Nirvana – Andy & Lisa Postle – 1, 3, 4, 2, 4, 6, (6), 6 = 26
5th – USA96 – Hanko III – Thomas Kuhmann – 3, (5), 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 4 = 28

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Cascais, Portugal – 9 September 2022 (Correction) – Cascais delivered a beautiful penultimate day of racing for the International Six Metre crews competing in their 2022 European Championship. With the wind in the north-north-west at 10-15 knots and a long ocean swell running the race committee made smart work of completing races six and seven of the eight race series.

In the Open Division the introduction of the single discard has compressed the scoreboard and going into the final day three boats remain in serious contention for the title with just two points separating them. The Portuguese are currently dominating as Patrick Monteiro de Barros’s Seljm continues to lead by a single point margin from Vasco Pereira’s Scoundrel One. One further point behind lies Dieter Schoen’s Momo from Switzerland. Still in with a chance of a podium finish are fellow Swiss Jan Eckert’s Ginkgo Too, which lies five points behind Momo, and fifth placed Violeta Alvarez sailing Stella for the Royal Yacht Squadron.

In the Classic Division Bribon 500, helmed by Canadian Ross Macdonald with a Spanish crew of Alejandro Abascal, Alberto Viejo, Eduardo Marin and Roi Alvarez, added a first and second to their scorecard and discarded a second to become the 2022 International Six Metre Classic European Champions with a race to spare. The Romanian team of reigning ORC Class B World Champion Catalin Trandafir aboard Essentia secured the silver medal in the fleet, but tomorrow will see a showdown for bronze between Spaniard Mauricio Sanchez Bella’s Titia and Andy and Lisa Postle’s UK based Nirvana.

After racing the new Classics Champion Ross Macdonald commented; “It’s been interesting this week as we’ve had pretty much different conditions every day. So it’s been a good test and about making sure we’ve got the right sails and we’re sailing properly each day. Today was fun as it was the Cascais that everyone remembers with wind and waves so we really enjoyed it today especially.”

Racing got underway on time at 13:00 with Scoundrel making a spectacular pin end port tack start in the Open Division that enabled her to cross the majority fleet and head straight out for the favoured right hand side. Traffic was heavy over on the committee boat end where both Jane Ann and Thisbe mistimed their approaches and had to spin out. Scoundrel One’s flyer enabled her to head straight for right hand side and she lead the fleet at the first mark. Following her around were Gingko Too, Momo and Seljm. Scoundrel One extended her lead to the finish to take her second win of the championship. Momo and Ginkgo Too duelled their way round the track with Momo finally clinching it on the final run. Seljm tried everything she could to overtake, but ultimately had to settle for fourth.

With the wind holding steady and building to around 12-14 knots, the race committee rolled straight into race seven. This time the Open Division kept away from the pin with Seljm getting the best of the start, but at the weather mark it was Jeremy Thorp’s Battlecry that led the fleet, followed by Seljm, Ginkgo Too, Scoundrel One and Momo. Whilst the majority gybed immediately Battlecry stood on and by the leeward gate Seljm, who gybed early along with the main body of the fleet, had overtaken her. Seljm and Battlcry settled into their positions at the front of the fleet, but Scoundrel One, Ginkgo Too and Momo were fighting for every inch and the honour of third. On the line Momo took it by a whisker from Soundrel One with Ginkgo Too fifth.

Overall Seljm has clung onto her Open Division lead by a single point from Scoundrel One. With her disqualification from race four now discarded Momo leaps up from fifth into third, one point behind Scoundrel. There is then a five point delta back to Ginkgo Too in fourth with Stella rounding out the top five as the only other boat still in with an outside chance of a podium place. The scene is clearly set for a dog fight of epic proportions to decide the Overall Six Metre European Champion 2022 in tomorrow’s final race.

In the Classic Division Nirvana tried a port tack start in race six too but her timing was off and she was forced to tack after only a few seconds by Titia who then sailed over her and pinned her out to the left . Bribon 500 meanwhile had opted to start at the committee boat and tack early to get into the lift along the shore earlier. Once again this supremely skilled team were on the money and they led the race from start to finish. Essentia took second, Titia third and Ted Schauman’s Lisbeth V from Finland fourth.

Race seven for the Classics was all about Titia. She got a great start and was first to tack off to the shore. Bribon 500 found herself a little bit buried but soon worked her way out of trouble and by the top mark was hard on Titia’s heels with Essentia third and Germany’s Thomas Khumann’s Hanko III fourth. Although Titia and Bribon 500 extended on the fleet the leading four held their positions all the way to the line, securing the Championship for Bribon 500 and the silver medal for Essentia.

Tomorrow’s final Classics race will decide who takes the last step on the podium between Titia, who has jumped from fifth to third on 19 points, and Nirvana who had her worst day of the regatta with a pair of sixth places and now sits on 20 points overall. Both boats are discarding a sixth so it’s going to be an exciting last race.

Classics runner up Catalin Trantafir was delighted with Essentia’s result saying, “We are actually the newest team in the class, which is pretty much funny so I did not expect so tough competition I would say. its been all good so far. This summer we got second place, hopefully next year we return stronger and put a bit of pressure on the champions.”

After racing the crews came together at the Clube Naval de Cascais for a Gala Championship Dinner, which got underway with cocktails and canapés on the terrace as the sunset and then moved onto a delicious meal in the clubhouse. Once again the club’s generosity has been outstanding and the guests enjoyed wonderful food and local wines as well as each other’s company.

The Race Committee has confirmed that it intends to start tomorrow’s final race at 14:00. The forecast promises 10 to 14 knots from the north-west and more glorious sunshine so we look set for a spectacular final day here in Cascais.

Further information about the Championship can be found at the event website, at http://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
Provisional Top Five Results After Seven Races

Open Division

1st – POR4 – Seljm – Patrick Monteiro de Barros – 3, 1, (7), 1, 5, 4, 1 = 15
2nd – GBR86 – Scoundrel One – Vasco Pereira – 4, 4, 2, (8), 1, 1, 4 = 16
3rd – SUI142 – Momo – Dieter Schoen – 1, 6, 1, (DSQ(11)), 4, 2, 3 = 17
4th – SUI140 – Ginkgo Too – Jan Eckert – 5, 2, 4, 3, (8), 3, 5 = 22
5th – ESP16 – Stella – Violeta Alvarez – 2, (9), 3, 2, 6, 6, 6 = 25

Classic Division

1st – ESP16 – Bribon 500 – Ross Macdonald – (2), 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2 = 8
2nd – ROU65 – Essentia – Catalin Trandafir – (4), 4, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 = 15
3rd – ESP72 – Titia – Mauricio Sanchez Bella – (6), 2, 5, 5, 3, 3, 1 = 19
4th – GBR33 – Nirvana – Andy & Lisa Postle – 1, 3, 4, 2, 4, 6, (6) = 20
5th – USA96 – Hanko III – Thomas Kuhmann – 3, (5), 3, 4, 5, 5, 4 = 20
5th –

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