Tag Archives: 6 Metre

News

British Six Metre Association Chairman welcomes competitors to Cowes for Six Metre World Championship 2023

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Cowes, UK – 1 September 2023 – British Six Metre Association Chairman Tom Owen welcomed teams from across the globe to Cowes for the International Six Metre World Championship 2023, which is being hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron from Monday 4 to Friday 8 September.

“We’re really pleased to be welcoming thirty-four Six Metre teams to the Cowes waters. It’s a really historic place to race. We’ve got two days of practice races and five days of championship racing ahead of us and we’re really looking forward to the competition. We’ve got boats from pretty much all over the World including Canada, America, Finland, Spain, Switzerland, Greece, Sweden France, Germany and of course the UK, and I think the competition is going to be excellent.” – Tom Owen.

Since Tuesday 29 August the teams have been arriving in Cowes and undergoing measurement and registration checks at the regatta’s marina base at Cowes Yacht Haven. Competing in the regatta are boats built as early as 1930 and as recently as 2022, and this brings its own special challenges for the measurement team, which this week is led by International Six Metre Measurer David Chivers. One of the secrets of the Six Metre’s longevity and continuing popularity has been the careful management of the rules by the International Class and the firm enforcement of those rules to ensure all the boats can compete on a level playing field. 

Each of the teams must ensure their boat has been fully measured and has a current measurement certificate prior to the event, and then those measurements and the individual sails and equipment to be used in the competition are rechecked at registration. Championship racing does not commence until Monday, so some crews are still making their way to Cowes, but already most boats have successfully completed the measurement process.

In charge of the Royal Yacht Squadron’s highly efficient race management team for the regatta is Race Officer Peter Saxton, one of the UK’s most experienced race officers. That experience was put to the test today as the race committee had to deal with initially very light winds as they prepared to run the first of the warm-up races. Wisely they elected to make a prompt announcement of a two-hour postponement to allow the conditions to improve, giving the teams extra time to work on their boats and sample the delights of Cowes’ many lovely cafes. The wait was worth it though, and as the sun broke through the grey clouds, the competitors enjoyed one excellent full length windward/leeward race in a decent 12 to 16 knot westerly breeze.

Whilst not all the boats participated, the race was none the less a good indicator of things to come. In the Open Division Jeremy Thorp’s GBR89 Battlecry drew first blood, leading home the defending World Champion Dieter Schoen’s SUI142 Momo, with Jamie Hilton at the helm of USA126 Scoundrel third and Jan Eckerts SUI140 Ginkgotoo fourth.In the Classic Division the victor was Mauricio Sanchez-Bella’s ESP72 Titia, who was followed home by the 2022 European Champion ESP16 Bribon, skippered by His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain, and GBR33 Nirvana owned by Andy & Lisa Postle. Click here for full results.

Further warm up racing will take place on Saturday 2 September, whilst on Sunday the International Six Metre Class AGM will take place, followed later in the day by the Race Officer’s Briefing and then the Regatta Opening Reception at the Royal Yacht Squadron. Championship racing will get underway on Monday 4 September with up to eight races scheduled between then and Friday 8 September.

Additional information about the 2023 International Six Metre World Championship, including a list of entries with details of each boat is available at 6metreworlds.com.

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Members of the press requiring additional information, high resolution images or a broadcast quality video news release should contact:

Fiona Brown
Media Officer, International Six Metre Association (ISMA)
fiona.brown@fionabrown.com
+44 (0)7711 718470

News

Cowes Prepares to Welcome International Six Metre World Championship

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Cowes, UK – 29 August 2023 – Preparations are in full swing to welcome 34 teams representing 11 Nations from across Europe and North America for the International Six Metre World Championship, to be hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron from 29 August to 8 September. The fleet is divided into two divisions, the Open Division and the Classic Division for those yachts built prior to 31 December 1965. 

Amongst those competing will be the defending Open and Classic Division Champions, Momo and Dix Août. In the Open Division Dieter Schoen’s Momo, a Judel/Vrolijk design launched in 2022, will be aiming for a second consecutive win. But she will have tough competition from the likes of Jan Eckert’s Gingko Too, a 2020 Javier Cela design; Violeta Alvarez’ 2017 Juan Kouyoumdjian designed Stella; and new kid on the block Oiva, designed by Allan Savolainen, launched in 2022 and owned by Finland’s Henrik Andersin. An interesting new addition to the Open Division is Aera, the 1988 Pelle Petterson design formerly known as Rebecca, which has been purchased by Nicholas and Fotis Lykiardopulo and undergone considerable work to prepare her for the event.

The Open Division may be nicknamed the “Moderns”, but even here the boats will span some forty years. Built in 1981 the Petterson/Howlett designed Junior may be the oldest boat in the Open Division but she’s arguably the most successful post-1965 boat having won the Worlds in 1999, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2017 and 2019 and the Europeans in 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002. Launched just last October and racing in her first ever world championship is Henrik Andersin’s Oiva. Henrik is a long standing Six Metre owner having previously owned both classic and modern sixes. There has been a significant resurgence of interest in the Six Metre Class in recent years, with a number of new boats being launched. Construction of Oiva at Red Sky Yachts at Kotka in Finland has been documented on the International Six Metre Archive and can be seen here.

In the classic division Dix Août, a 1950 Bjarne Aas design owned by Louis Heckly, will defend her title, but this time with the legendary French offshore and Dragon sailor Géry Trenteseaux at the helm. Meanwhile Louis, who is also the President of the International Six Metre Class, will be racing the stunningly beautiful 1937 Olin Stephens designed Fun. The two boats have been training hard all season and will both be hoping to put in a good showing.

The Sanxenxo based Bribon is a two time past Classic World Championship winner and came second last year so will be hoping for a return to the top step of the podium this year. From Port Madison YC, USA, comes Peter Hofmann and Rainer Mueller’s 1948 Olin Stephens designed Llanoria, which competed in two Olympic Games, winning Gold on both occasions, and also the winning classic in the 2015 World Championships. Always a very fast boat she will definitely be one to watch this time around.

The oldest boat racing in the Classic Division will be the 1927 Johan Anker designed Sioma owned by Fenton Burgin, closely followed by Tom Owen and Dirk Stolp’s 1930 Alfred Mylne designed Valdai and Simon J. William’s 1931 Anker & Jensen designed Abu. The youngest Classic racing will be Thomas Kuhmann’s 1955 Hanko III designed by Bjarne Aas, although Nirvana, which is a reconstruction of a 1939 Olin Stephens design, is technically the most recently built of the Classics at this event.

Boats have been arriving in Cowes over recent weeks to train on the Solent, and registration for the regatta will begin on Tuesday 29 August. The official practice races will be held from on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 September and then on Sunday 3 September the class will hold its AGM and a Race Officer’s briefing, after which competitors will be invited to enjoy a Regatta Opening Reception at the Royal Yacht Squadron. World Championship racing will commence on Monday 4 September with up to eight races scheduled between then and the regatta’s conclusion on Friday 8 September.

Further information about the 2023 Six Metre Worlds including a list of entries with details of each boat is available at 6metreworlds.com. 

For additional information please contact:

Fiona Brown
Media Officer, International Six Metre Associaiton (ISMA)
fiona.brown@fionabrown.com
+44 (0)7711 718470

Image (c) John Green

Market Place

FOR SALE – SUI152 – GEDALE

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The boat was designed and built in 1969 by Willy Lehman in Berlin. Initially she was given the sail number G20 and the name of “Michel”. In 1978 she was purchased by a new owner in Switzerland, receiving a new sail number (Z)SUI52 and the name of “Nisida”. During these years she took part to several international events, achieving excellent results:

YearEventLocationRanking
1975World CupSandham, Sweden4th
1977World Cup       Marstrand, Sweden9th
1978European ChampionshipAlassio, Italy5th
1980European ChampionshipGeneva, Switzerland5th
1988World Cup       Falmouth, UK11th

In 2002 the boat changed hands again and was moved to Noirmoutier on the French Atlantic coast, taking the sail number F69. The current owner purchased her in 2019 and brought her back to Switzerland, on Geneva Lake (Versoix). Under her new name “Gedale”, SUI52 is regularly sailing and participating in all the events of Challenge Lemanique. Her magnificent mahogany hull and teak deck as well as the aluminium mast (replaced in 2003) are sound and SUI52 is performing well, particularly upwind and in medium-light weather conditions. However, a thorough revision of running rig and a new set of sails will be required to fully deliver her potential.

Build year:  1969 

Designer:  Willy Lehmann 

Builder:   Lehmann, Berlin, Germany 

Main dimensions as in the Certificate of Rating (June 06, 2021): 

          Overall Length             10,240 m 

          LWL                               7,707 m 

          Sail Area                     43,203 m2 

         Weight                         4080 kg 

Asking price:   25.000 CHF
Any serious offer will be considered.

Contact: Theo Sarviatheo@sarvia.ch+41 79 8332333
News

Javi Cela Introduces a New Six Metre Design

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Javi Cela, the designer of Ginkgo Too, has introduced a new Six Metre design, so we asked him to tell us more:

The new Six Metre design was a development of some theory tested originally on Ginkgo Too.

Based on the evolution of the rating rule (Seaworthiness, the forgotten factor by CA Marchaj, and The six metre-100 years of Racing by Pekka Barck and Tim Street) I made a research on the “d” penalty to shape a lighter boat.

When starting this new design, in adition to the light displacement, I was looking for a different boat handling (more maneuverable, quick tacks, more settings), a very technical sportboat which can easily reach speeds above 10kt, atracting young sailors from other classes. Unsinkable, trailarable with a car, no runners and many more posible gears (code zero, genoa, jib, spi, gennaker).

The Six Metre history has been close to the 12 Metre class from 1958 to 1988, in fact the Six Metre was a bench test for some designs, but the scale factor has induced errors sometimes.

Some interest books were analysed for information (The 12 Metre Class by Luigi Lang & Dyer Jones, and the Comeback, my race for the Americas Cup by Dennis Conner, The Grand Gesture by Roger Vaughan, and some more).

When reviewing all 12 Metre designs, Ted Hood’s approach to designing Nefertiti (US 19) got my interest (Ted Hood, Through Hand and Eye, by Ted Hood and Michael Levitt).

She performed very well against the older 12 Metre boats, Columbia (US 16), designed by Olin Stephens, Weatherly (US 17), designed by Philip Rhodes and modified in 1962 by A.E. “Bill” Luders, and Easterner (US 18), designed by C. Raymond Hunt.   

Hood produced a yacht with greater beam and less displacement. His idea was to build a yacht that was a platform to optimise the sail plan.

In this case, the size of the Six Metre allows the boat sailing in semiplaning condition at certain windspeeds, while the wetted surface reduction is beneficial in light wind condition.

Therefore the midwinds have to be worked to make her an all round competitive boat.

A massive study was made on the mast with the help of Chriss Mitchel and the sailplan was developed by Henrik Soderlund with the help of Albert Swaizwer.

To the date the boat has been sailed only a few days and the targets are very promising.

To find out more about this new design contact Javi on celajavi@hotmail.com