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.

RESULTS

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LIVE TRACKING

A record-setting fleet of 52 International Six Metre class yachts will compete on Switzerland’s Lake Geneva later this month at the 2026 European Championships, hosted by the Société Nautique de Genève.

The huge fleet includes two entries from the USA, as well as European visitors from Finland (2), France (3), Greece (3), Germany (4), Great Britain (5), Italy (2), Netherlands (1), Spain (3), Sweden (1), all of whom will face a 26-strong local contingent from Switzerland.

The biannual regatta, which runs from July 19 to 24, will see two International Six Metre European titles decided: the Open European Championship for those yachts constructed and/or certificated since January 1, 1966; and the Classic European Championship for those yachts constructed and/or certificated before that date.

Prior to the European Championships, the International Six Metre Class Swiss Championships – from July 15 to 17 – will give the competitors an important opportunity to familiarise themselves with the idiosyncrasies of Lake Geneva and its beautiful surroundings.

An Olympic class from 1908 to 1952, the International Six Metre Class remains a highly active class, with more than 300 modern and classic Six Metres racing internationally – including national fleets across mainland Europe, North America, and Canada.

Amongst the possible frontrunners in the Open Championship are: Jeremy Thorp’s British Battlecry, which finished runner up in the 2024 Europeans in Sanxenxo, Spain, as well as Dieter Schön’s Swiss entry Momo, winner of the 2025 World Championship, and Switzerland’s Loïc Forestier on Junior – who finished third in Spain in 2024.

The Classic Championship will be equally hotly contested, with His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain’s 1947-built Bribon – back-to-back winner of the 2022 and 2024 European title and current Classic World Champion – standing out as an obvious potential favourite.

Also in the running will be Finland’s Ossi Paija on Astrée III (1959), runner-up at the Europeans in 2024, as well as Spain’s Mauricio Sánchez-Bella Carswell on Titia, who finished third in 2024 and second in the 2025 World Championship at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club in the United States.

Racing at the Swiss National Championship begins on Wednesday July 15, with the six-day, eight-race, European Championships series beginning on Sunday July 19 and running through to Friday July 24, with two races per day scheduled.

A local fleet of 12 International Six Metre yachts from the host club Société Nautique de Genève will take on entries from around the world this summer at the International Six Metre 2026 European Championships, which are scheduled to take place on Switzerland’s Lake Geneva from July 19–24.

40 entries have been received so far for the championships, including an additional eight Swiss-flagged yachts from clubs across the country, as well as entries from Spain, Finland, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, and the United States. 

As many as 50 crews are expected to compete in the regatta, at which two International Six Metre European titles will be awarded: the Open European Championship for those yachts constructed and/or certificated since January 1, 1966; and the Classic European Championship for those yachts constructed and/or certificated before that date.

Amongst the entries received so far are all three of the podium finishers in the Classic Division at the previous International Six Metre European Championships held in Sanxenxo, Spain in 2024, when His Majesty Juan Carlos of Spain defended his title aboard Bribon (designed by Arvid Laurin and built in 1947), ahead of Ossi Paija from Finland who skippered Astree III (designed by Bjarne Aas and built in 1959) to second place, and Spain’s Titia, skippered by Mauricio Sanchez-Bella Carswell, in third. 

In the Open Division, Jeremy Thorp’s British crew on Battlecry (designed by Ian Howlett and built in 1988) will be looking to improve on their silver medal placing in 2024, as will Loic Forestier, skipper of the Swiss entry Junior (designed by Pelle Petterson and built in 1981), who finished third in Sanxenxo. 

Over the years since its inception in 1907 when the International Rule – also known as the Metre Rule – was first introduced, the International Six Metre Class has managed to combine elegant and graceful design with leading-edge innovation. 

Nowadays, there are over 300 modern and classic Six Metres racing internationally with national fleets across mainland Europe, North America, and Canada.  

Switzerland has long been a stronghold for the class and the Société Nautique de Genève and its members have played a key role in its development – and continue to do so today. There is a distinct synergy between the classic styling and sailing style of International Six Metre yachts and the serene natural beauty of Lake Geneva and its surroundings.

The International Six Metre 2026 European Championships will be preceded by the Swiss National Championship from July 15–17. The official opening ceremony of the European Championships will take place on Saturday July 18, with racing beginning on Sunday July 19 and running through until Friday July 24.