The 2024 ISMA AGM was held in Sanxenxo, Spain on 28 September and a number of key decisions were made and proposals received. Full minutes of the meeting will be circulated to members by email. Below is an overview of some of the key points discussed.
ISMA President Louis Heckly (FRA11 Fun) welcomed the members to the meeting.
He also welcomed new ISMA Secretary Helena Paz to her first AGM. Helena thanked Louis and all the members for their support as she takes on her new role, and in particular thanked outgoing Secretary Tim Russell for his assistance during the handover period. She confirmed that she is very much enjoying her new role and participating in her first ISMA AGM.
Peter Wealick made a short presentation about plans for the 2025 International Six Metre World Championships, being hosted by the Seawanhaka Corithian Yacht Club on Long Island Sound and looked forward to welcoming the international competitors for the event next September.
It was confirmed that the 2026 International Six Metre European Championships will be held on Lake Geneva. Further information will be made available in due course.
It was confirmed that the 2027 International Six Metre World Championships will be held at Nyländska Jaktklubben (NJK), Helsinki, Finland. Further information will be made available in due course.
Chairman Louis Heckley confirmed that bids are now being sought to host the 2028 International Six Metre European Championships.
An official bid by Yacht Club Costa Smerald (ITA) for the 2029 Six Metre World Championships was very well received by competitors. This will be formally presented to and discussed at the ISMA winter meeting.
Foti Lykiardopulo (GRE1 Aera) was elected as the new ISMA Treasurer.
The proposal to adopt a new measurement certificate format was voted for unanimously.
The inaugural edition of SIX Magazine, which was published in spring 2024, was discussed and confirmed a great success. It was unanimously agreed that ISMA will proceed with a 2025 edition.
ISMA VP Marketing Ossi Paija requested that the matter of class brand and logos be reviewed. It was agreed that this will be added to the Agenda for the Winter Meeting for discussion
The ISMA Winter Meeting will be held in Geneva on 28 February and 1 March. Further details will be circulated to members directly in due course.
If you require further information about any aspect of the AGM please contact the ISMA Executive Secretary on IsmaSecretary@6metre.com
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Due to strong winds, big seas and poor visibility no racing is possible on the final day of the International Six Metre European Championship 2024 Trofeo Xacobeo, and so we are delighted to announce that our 2024 European Champions are:
Open Six Metre European Champions 2024 – FIN81 Oiva (2022 designer Allan Savolainen), skippered by Henrik Andersin and crewed by Robert Nyberg, Jacob Granqvist, Theis Palm and the boat’s designer Allan Savolainen, sailing for Nylandska JK.
2024 International Six Metre Classic European Champion ESP16 Bribon
Classic Six Metre European Champions 2024 – ESP16 Bribon (1947 designer Arvid Laurin), skippered by His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain and crewed by Alejandro Abascal, Ross Macdonald, Lino Perez, Roy Alvarez and Eduardo Marin Lasheras, sailing for the RCN Sanxenxo.
In the Open Division our podium is completed by:
2024 International Six Metre Open European Silver Medallist GBR89 Battlecry
Open Division Silver Medallist GBR89 Battlecry (1988 designer Ian Howlett), skippered by Jeremy Thorp and crewed by Pedro Costa, Philip Parry, Wouter Stipout and Joao Matos, sailing for the Royal Yacht Squadron.
2024 International Six Metre Open European Bronze Medallist SUI77 Junior
Open Division Bronze Medallist SUI77 Junior (1981 designer Pelle Petterson), owned by Rainer Muller, skippered by Loic Forestier and crewed by Mathieu Fischer, Yann Marilley, Kaspar Schadegg and Nicolas Berthoud, sailing for SN de Geneve.
In the Classic Division our podium is completed by:
2024 International Six Metre Classic European Silver Medallist FIN80 Astree III
Classic Division Silver Medallist FIN80 Astree III (1959 Bjarn Aas) skippered by Ossi Paija and crewed by Thomas Hallberg, Sam Fauerlaund, Heikki Pulse and Kimmo Viljamaa, sailing for the Nylandska JK.
2024 International Six Metre Classic European Bronze Medallist ESP72 Titia
Classic Division Bronze Medallist ESP72 Titia (1952 designer David Boyd) skippered by Mauricio Sanchez-Bella Carswell, and crewed by Alicia Freire Vazquez, Pepe Lis Santos, Francisco Gonzalez Sanchez and Gerardo Preto Menor, sailing for the RCN Sanxenxo.
The Gala Prize Giving Dinner will take place at the Real Club Nautico de Sanxenxo this evening and we will have a full report for you including confirmation of all our special division winners and photos later.
The sun finally came out on day five of the International Six Metre European Championships 2024 Trofeo Xacobeo, where it was all change on the leaderboards as races six and seven of the eight race series were completed for both Open and Classic Divisions and the single scoring discard came into play.
Once again there was an initial postponement as the visibility improved and the wind filled in. But the wait was worth it and both races were run in a light and pleasantly warm, if rather shifty, six to eight knot south westerly. After the wet and windy conditions earlier in the regatta it was a welcome change of pace for the teams.
In the Open Division new faces came to the fore and the overnight leaders both struggled. Henrik Andersin’s Oiva (2022 Allan Savolainen) took a second and third place to bounce up from third into a five-point overall lead. Jeremy Thorp’s Battlecry (1988 Ian Howlett) went into the day in fifth and added a pair of fifths to his card, so now sits in second place. A single point behind him is Rainer Muller’s Junior (1981 Pelle Petterson), skippered by Loic Forestier, who drops out of the lead after a seventh and eighth place.
Defending Open Division Champion Dieter Schoen’s Momo (2022 Judel Vrolijk) hasn’t had the best of weeks so far, but she found form again today to win race six and take second in race seven, putting her into fourth overall but on equal points with Junior. Also off her usual pace was Violeta Alvarez’s Stella (2017 Juan Kouyoumdjian), who could manage no better than a sixth and eighth so drops from second into fifth, a point behind Junior and Momo. The day’s other race winner was Nick and Fotis Lykiardopolou’s Aera (1988 Pelle Petterson) who scored a fourth and then won race seven to end the day in sixth overall.
A pre-start port/starboard incident between Eugenio Galdon Brugarolas’ Maybe XIV and Basil Vasiliou’s Jane Ann, skippered by Steffan Lindberg, sadly saw Jane Ann holed above the waterline. Maybe XIV retired from the race and the Jury awarded Jane Ann average points, which means she sadly drops down from fourth overall to sixth.
Back ashore Henrik Andersin was delighted with Oiva’s performance. “Today was a very challenging day, and we didn’t have much wind. It’s weird hanging around for a long time. We really thought it was a hard sail. I think the feeling in the Open Class is just great. We are helping each other, and we support each other. So, it’s going great. And I think also our crew is very happy!”
In the Classic Division His Majesty King Juan Carlos’ Bribon (1947 Arvin Laurin) took an eighth in race six, which she immediately discarded, followed by a fourth in race seven, which was just sufficient to allow her to retain the overall Classic Division lead. However, Ossi Paija’s Astree II (1959 Bjarn Aas) fared much better with a pair of second places and now sits just a single point behind Bribon.
Ten points behind in third place of the Classics is Mauricio Sanchez-Bella Carswell’s Titia (1952 David Boyd) after a pair of seventh places. But the boat of the day in the Classics fleet was without doubt Francisco Botas’ Aida (1931 Alfred Mylne), skippered by Javier De La Gandara Alonso, which put in a stunning performance to win both races and move into fourth overall, four points ahead of Louis Heckly’s Fun (1937 Olin Stephens), which had added fourth and ninth to her card, dropping one place down the ranking.
Diego Fernandez of Aida explained that the conditions played a big part in their double race victory. “It was a light wind day which the boat enjoys. We hit the right shifts. We had a good start and steady racing. We got quite a lot right, and the boat was going very well, very fast. After days of strong wind, big waves, days when the boat wasn’t going well, we were a little bit stressed and the truth is that today the boat was going very well in light wind, and the crew were delighted. Today is the special type of day when everything comes together, to do two firsts everything has to be perfect, otherwise the others will beat you. It’s incredibly tough racing, all good boats, good helms, good trimmers, very tough. We’re all very close together and you have to stick your head out metre by metre.”
With a single race left to complete on the final day of the competition the rankings in both Divisions remain wide open. The forecast for the last day is tricky to read to say the least. Torrential rain is more of less guaranteed, and the wind will be between south and southwest, but the wind strength could be anything from six to thirty knots. Fortunately, both the Real Club Nautico de Sanxenxo’s Race Committee and the sailors are up for the challenge and so we look forward to a spectacular final show down.
Additional information about the 2024 International Six Metre European Championships is available at 6meuropeans2024.com. You can follow the regatta action online at:
The weather gods have not been making life easy for the sailors of the International Six Metre European Championships 2024 Trofeo Xacobeo in Sanxenxo. After three very tricky days with low visibility and lots of rain but good wind, day four was the opposite with dry conditions but barely a breath of wind, so the scheduled race six could not take place. Five races have so far been completed and three races remain to be sailed between now and Saturday 6 September. The single discard comes into play once race six has been completed, which could shake things up considerably.
Race Officer Jano Martin explained the Race Committee’s thinking as they look ahead to the final two days of the regatta. “The forecasts are changing every day. The view we see now looking ahead to tomorrow may change overnight and again tomorrow morning, so it is difficult to predict. If there is a chance, we will try to complete two races tomorrow.”.
In the overall standings His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain’s ESP16 Bribon continues to lead the Classics Division from Ossi Paija’s FIN80 Astree II with Mauricio Sanchez-Bella Carswell’s ESP72 Titia third, Miguel Lago Cereceda’s ESP50 Alibaba II fourth and Louis Heckly’s FRA11 Fun fifth.
In the Open Division Rainer Muller’s SUI77 Junior, skippered by Loic Forestier and Violeta Alvarez’ ESP116 Stella are tied at the top of the leader board with Henrik Andersin’s FIN81 Oiva a point behind them. Tied for fourth and just four points behind the leaders are Basil Vasiliou’s USA105 Jane Ann, skippered by Steffan Lindberg, and Jeremy Thorp’s GBR89 Battlecry. With so much to play for, the sailors are all praying that the weather gods smile on them at last tomorrow.
Luckily for the sailors, the Real Club Nautico de Sanxeno and surrounding area are a delightful place to hang out, with many great restaurants and bars and superb shops, so the sailors were able to make the most of their afternoon once the decision not to race had been confirmed.
Whilst of course the sailing is the primary focus of the championship, these international events are also a wonderful opportunity to appreciate the longevity and beauty of this extraordinary class.
The oldest boat sailing this week is Cesar Elizaga’s FIN59 Ian, which was built in Gothenburgh, Sweden in 1929 and was the last boat designed by Gustav Estlander, who had her built for his own use. She was a successful boat and won the coveted Scandinavian Gold Cup in 1930. She continued racing in Sweden under various owners until 1988, when after 60 years under the Swedish Flag she was sold to Finland. She raced regularly for a decade before beginning a complete refurbishment in 2003. She was relaunched for the 2007 racing season having been restored back to her original state. In 2015 she made the move south to Sanxenxo where she has played a pivotal role in developing the new Galician fleet.
At the other end of the spectrum, the newest boat racing is Henrik Andersin’s 2022 Allan Savolainen designed Oiva, which was built by Red Sky Yachts in Finland. Andersin is an experienced Six Metre sailor, having owned a number of both classic and modern sixes over the years. The story of the construction of Oiva is told in a six-part series of articles which are available on the International Six Metre Archive.
The Six Metre Class dates back to 1907, and the introduction of the International Rule, also known as the Metre Rule. It has been at the forefront of technical innovation for over 120 years with the world’s top designers and sailors bringing often radical concepts and technical excellence to the fleet. But alongside the incredible technical development and the amazing racing history of many of the boats, there are also dozens of wonderful personal stories of sailors and their families simply enjoying their Sixes for pleasure. A message via the class Facebook page this week has reminded us of the special place Sixes hold in so many people’s hearts.
Alibaba II was designed and built in Sweden in 1948 by Tore Holm, under whose helmsmanship she won a bronze medal for Sweden at that year’s Olympics. In 1951 she was sold to Harry Melander, and it was Harry’s daughter Lisa who reached out to say how thrilled she was to see the boat still racing successfully 76 years after she was built. Lisa told us that she well remembers sailing with her father and family to Åland in the Swedish archipelago during the summer holidays. Under various names and ownerships Alibaba II has had an extraordinary sailing career to date. She won a second bronze Olympic medal in 1952, came second in the 1998 European Championship, won the 1999 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship. Now based in Sanxenxo she continues to be one of the top performing Classic Six Metres.
To find out more about the history of the Six Metre Class and the boats racing this week, please visit the International Six Metre Archive, where individual boat profiles and a host of fascinating technical and historic data is to be found. If you have additional information that you feel would be of interest to the archive, please contact the Archivist on archivist@6metrearchive.org.
Racing at the International Six Metre European Championship 2024 Trofeo Xacobeo at the Real Club Nautico de Sanxenxo continues until Saturday 5 September with three races remaining to be sailed in the eight-race series.
Additional information about the 2024 International Six Metre European Championships is available at 6meuropeans2024.com. You can follow the regatta action online at:
International 6 Metre Association 