After two races sailed in volatile and highly challenging conditions on Switzerland’s Lake Geneva, Eric Monnin’s SUI100 Duclop leads the International Six Metre Swiss Championships in the Open fleet, with Violeta Alvarez on GBR57 Erica topping the leaderboard in the Classics.

Windless conditions greeted the competitors when they assembled at the Société Nautique de Genève this morning for the second day of the regatta, which precedes next week’s International Six Metre European Championships. After hoisting the AP ashore, the race committee left the dock at 1030 in search of a viable breeze for racing.

After initially taking station in the northern of the two championship racecourses, shortly before 1330 the committee switched locations to the southerly race area closer to the SNG marina, where almost exactly an hour later a 10-12 knot southerly breeze filled in. With thunder cells rumbling all around Lake Geneva threatening to disrupt the airflow, the committee got the racecourse set up quickly and racing got underway just before 1445.

In the first race in the Classic fleet, Andreas Haubold’s GER64 Sinkadus led around the first windward mark by a considerable distance. According to Haubold’s wife Martina Klemmt, the crew had not had a stellar start, but “had some good ideas and made some good decisions” in the shifty breeze on the first beat, which gave them the lead at the top mark.

After that, the Berlin crew extended on all three remaining legs to finish more than a minute in front of the next boat, Osi Paija’s FIN80 Astrée III in second, with Violeta Alvarez on GBR57 Erica in third.

A win in the second race – which saw the breeze rotate heavily to the right as a thunderstorm passed close by – sees Alvarez’s crew top the leaderboard tonight with four points. In second is the German Sinkadus crew who followed their first race win with a seventh in Race 2. Third tonight is the Finnish crew on Astrée III.

Tired after what she described as a tricky day on the water, Alvarez said the biggest challenges were the wind’s variation in direction and strength. “There was also a lot of variation in wind shear,” she said. “What was happening at the top of the rig was not the same as down on the water.”

Despite all those challenges, Alvarez puts her crew’s consistent day down to some excellent calls by her tactician Pablo Iglesias – including spotting a left-hand shift at the start of the second race that enabled them to tack off the pin and cross the fleet.

Leading in the Open fleet is Eric Monnin’s SUI100 Duclop, which chalked up a 1,2 scoreline for the opening day. Second tonight is Loic Forestier’s local Swiss boat SUI77 Junior, with a fourth and a first, tied on points with Dieter Schön’s IVB145 Momo in third after their 2,3 score over the day.

Second-placed Forestier – who calls tactics aboard Junior – said the tricky conditions were typical for Lake Geneva, particularly with a southerly wind and so much thunderstorm activity circulating around locally.

“It’s always very shifty in the south wind,” he said. “Probably, a little local knowledge helps,” he added, with a grin.

Junior’s win came after Forestier’s crew rounded the windward mark in second behind Duclop, but took the lead after splitting away from Monnin on the first downwind leg.

Sitting in second place overall in the Swiss Championships is satisfying for Forestier given that the crew has made many changes to the boat recently – including stepping a brand-new mast.

“We swapped from a rig that was 45 years old to one which is just five weeks old,” he said. “That’s a big change, but I am very pleased with how the boat feels. We have to work on the trimming of the sails, but the basis is very good.”

Racing at the 2026 International Six Metre Swiss Championships concludes tomorrow with up to four more races to be sailed. The Swiss Championships serve as the precursor for the 2026 European Championships which begin on Sunday, July 19.

Results

Main image © Photonautique/y.ryncki

No races were completed on the opening day of the 2026 International Six Metre Swiss Championships on Lake Geneva, due to light and unstable winds left in the wake of a thunderstorm cell that moved through the region in the early afternoon, bringing squalls and heavy rain.

Earlier, at the 1100 competitors’ briefing, Christophe Amberger – chairman of the regatta organising committee at the host club Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) – gave a warm welcome to the 50-boat fleet, before principal race officer Yoann Lelièvre laid out his plan for the tricky weather day ahead.

After hoisting the AP flag to keep the fleet ashore while the storm passed over the SNG marina, as soon as conditions cleared, the race committee left the dock at 1330 with the AP coming down from the SNG mainmast shortly afterwards.

The Swiss Championship fleet is made up of 30 Classic yachts (constructed and/or certificated prior to January 1, 1966) and 20 Open fleet yachts (built/certificated after that date). The crews were greeted by blustery conditions when they arrived at the race area, with strong gusts and patchy lulls making sail headsail choices difficult.

Race 1 got underway shortly before 1500, with the Open fleet completing a windward and leeward leg, before the breeze shut down completely at the leeward gate. With the Classic fleet also becoming becalmed on the approach to the windward marks on their first beat, the race officer had no option but to call racing to a halt.

There then followed a two-hour wait in mirror flat conditions and occasional light rain showers, before the sun finally broke through the clouds and a six-to-eight-knot breeze miraculously materialised.

This triggered a flurry of activity from the sailors to re-hoist sails and get themselves tuned in to the new racecourse scenario. Agonisingly, though, the new breeze began to fade almost as soon as the starting sequence began.

Shortly after, the race committee hoisted the AP over A flags to send the fleet ashore for the day. A change to the sailing instructions, posted this evening, means four races have been scheduled for tomorrow – with the first start set for 1100.

The 2026 International Six Metre Swiss Championships runs through to Friday July 17 and is the precursor for the 2026 European Championships, which are scheduled to take place from Sunday, July 19 to Friday, July 24.

Main image © Photonautique/y.ryncki