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Four months to go! International Six Metres Make Historic return to Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club for 2025 World Championship

May 22, 2025 fionabrown Leave a comment

Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club (SCYC) and the Six Metre Class have a long and illustrious history. Founded in 1871 and located on Oyster Bay, New York, SCYC is America’s oldest yacht club and its association with the Sixes goes right back to the class’s foundation in 1907. The club last hosted a Six Metre World Championships in 1987 and so the class is excited to be returning to this very special venue for its 2025 Worlds from 22 to 26 September 2025.

Oyster Bay and Long Island Sound are renowned as some of the best sailing waters in the world and more than 30 Sixes from across the USA, Canada, Germany, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Spain, Greece and the United Kingdom will come together to race for the World Championship Trophies.

Competitors will include the defending Six Metre Classic World Champion, His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain, racing his beloved Bribon, the 1947 Arvid Laurin design which was built by Plym in Sweden. Having won three of the last four Classic World Championships, His Majesty will no doubt be keen to claim the trophy again.

In 2023 Jamie Hilton and his crew won the Open Division World Championship sailing Scoundrel. This year Jamie and his team will return to the fray, but this time racing a brand new boat, designed by Ian Howlett for the legendary Six Metre owner Rainer Müller. Currently nearing completion at Demon Yachts in the UK, this is Ian Howlett’s first new Six in some years and is a direct descendent of his Battlecry and Soundrel designs, which have been so successful in recent years.

Ian Howlett explains that the boat will only be completed just in time for the championship. “Around the turn of the new year the intended build time was foreshortened when the decision was made to take her to the 2025 Worlds in Seawanhaka. She will be sailed by the highly accomplished group, led by Jamie Hilton, who raced Scoundrel so effectively in 2023 at Cowes, and this group have also specified her deck layout, equipment and rig. Those contributing to the build at this end will do all we can to make things work out well for them, as racing a new and untried boat in a major regatta is always a considerable challenge. For me the pleasure and excitement of seeing a new Six take shape had almost been lost in the “Mists of Time” so above all Thank You to Rainer for making this possible.”

Back in the class for their first World Championship since 2015 will be Matt Brooks and his stunning classic Lucie, a 1931 Clinton H Crane design which was built by Nevins for Briggs Cunningham, the famous America’s Cup skipper. Lucie was launched into the heyday of Six Metre racing at SCYC and was shipped to the Solent as part of the US team for that year’s British-American Cup team racing, which the US team won in four straight races.

“We’re looking forward to returning Lucie to the starting line at a World Championship on her original home waters of Long Island Sound—Lucie was built at the Nevins yard in 1931 on City Island, New York. Hailing from the Bay Area and flying the St. Francis Yacht Club burgee, we have an experienced team including helmsman Craig Healy, and our philosophy is like the Oakland Raiders’ Al Davis always said: ‘Just win, baby!’” – Matt Brooks.

Such is the resurgence of interest in the Six Metre Class at the current time that there will be two brand new Sixes on the starting line for the worlds. Mr America’s Cup himself Dennis Conner will participate aboard his new boat Ole Miss, a Javi Cela design launched in San Diego in late 2024. Ole Miss continues the recent trend of radical developments in the Modern Sixes, and it will be exciting to see her line up against the likes of Henrik Andersin’s Oiva, the reigning Six Metre Open European Champion, which was designed by Allan Savolainen and built by Red Sky yachts, launching in October 2022, and of course the new Howlett boat.

Registration and measurement for the Championship starts on 17 September, on September 20 and 21 there will be warm up racing, and World Championships will run from 22 to 26 September, with a total of eight races scheduled. The club will also be hosting Six Metre regattas on 21-22 June, 19-20 July and 16-17 August for competitors who wish to familiarise themselves with the waters.

Further information about the event can be found at 2025.6metreworlds.com

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ISMA AGM 2024 Update

November 19, 2024 fionabrown Leave a comment

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

News

BRIBON CONSOLIDATES WHILE JUNIOR MOVES INTO FIRST ON DAY THREE OF THE SIX METRE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2024

October 2, 2024 fionabrown Leave a comment

The third day of the International Six Metre European Championship 2024 Trofeo Xacobeo off Sanxenxo brought more tough conditions for the competitors, who completed race five of the eight race series in heavy mist, tricky seas and a 12-14 knot west-south-westerly breeze.

Overall Standings

A second place in race five helped His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain’s Bribon consolidate her place at the top of the Classic Division leaderboard, which she now heads by five points from Ossi Paija’s Astree III (Nylandska JK) who finished the race in fourth. Classics race five was won by Mauricio Sanchez-Bella Carswell’s Titia (RCN de Sanxenxo), who retains her third place overall. Miguel Lago Cereceda’s Alibaba II (MRCYB) claimed sixth in the race and overtakes Louis Heckly’s Fun (YC de France) who was over the line at the start and failed to return, dropping him down to fifth overall.

On the dock Pepe Lis, tactician aboard Classics race winner Titia, summed up the conditions and looked ahead to the remaining races. “Well, we have been here for three days now. Three days with a lot of humidity and rain, and it’s hard to see the windward marks. The leeward ones too. Well, difficult. The championship has not been easy at all. When we went out, there were very good conditions. It was about 12-14 knots or so and there was visibility. At the start we managed to get off quite well, not too tight on the windward side. The shifts were good left and right, ten to fifteen degrees and we managed to hook the first right, then a little bit of left and then we got in front and from there it was more or less just about controlling the fleet. The hardest part was almost finding the leeward mark, that was really hard. The day after tomorrow we have very light winds, very light, and the direction is not very clear, and on Saturday too. In other words, there are three days left, three days to do three races in really difficult conditions. But we’ll see, that’s where we are. It’s better to be where we are now than further back.”

Going into the day the Open Division had been a three-way tie between Basil Vasiliou’s Jane Ann (New York YC), skippered by Steffan Lindberg, Rainer Muller’s Junior (SN De Geneve), skippered by Loic Forestier, and Henrik Andersin’s Oiva, (Nylandska JK). For Jane Ann the race was something of a disaster and they finished tenth, which drops her down into fourth overall. A sixth place was just sufficient to allow Junior to take the overall lead, but she is now tied on 20 points with Violeta Alvarez’ Stella (RCN Sanxenxo), who won the race in impressive style. Oiva finished seventh in the race to put her a single point behind the leaders in third. Jane Ann drops down to fourth, four points behind the leader and tied on 24 points with Jeremy Thorp’s Battlecry (Royal Yacht Squadron).

Back ashore Open Division race winner Violeta Alvarez was pleased with how their day went. “Well, it was very wet, very foggy, but we enjoyed it. The most difficult thing was to find the marks. It was really difficult; we couldn’t see where we were. But we just kept going a little bit more and did a few extra tacks just because we couldn’t find the windward mark. My crew is very special, the boys are superb, and I love them all. Pablo [Iglesias – tactician] was a little bit stressed because he couldn’t see the marks and it was such shifty conditions, but it was very nice. I have a very good crew, and I’m very lucky. Our mood has always been positive. Yesterday when it was raining, we were singing songs, so we’re always positive. We have fun. We. We call ourselves the Happy Team. So, we shall continue to be happy and enjoy ourselves whatever comes.”

Classic Division Race Roundup

Classic Division race five went to Titia who led the fleet off the line and never really looked back. Behind her Catalin Trandafir’s Essentia from the CYC Constanta led Bribon around the top mark, setting up what was to become a battle royal for the rest of the race. Essentia did everything she could to defend but on the second beat Bribon went further left and snuck into second position on the approach to the second windward mark. Essentia challenged Bribon at every opportunity on the last run, but at the line, it was Bribon that followed Titia home with Essentia third, Astree III fourth and Aida fifth.

Open Division Race Roundup

Stella got a fantastic start in the Open Division and lead the fleet throughout the race. Whilst Stella stretched away for a comfortably victory, behind her the fight was on between Rainer Muller’s Duclop (SN de Geneva), helmed by Frank Narbone, defending Champion Dieter Schoen’s Momo (SC St Moritz), Eugenio Galdon Brugarolas’ May Be XIV (RCR de Cartagena), Jeremy Thorp’s Battlecry (Royal Yacht Squadron), Jan Eckert’s Ginkgotoo (SN de Geneve), and Junior. Finding the marks and at times even locating your fellow competitors in the heavy mist made the race extraordinarily challenging, but on the line Duclop held second with May Be XIV third. Momo took her best result of the regatta at fourth, Battlecry was fifth and Junior sixth.

The warm welcome of the Real Club Nautico de Sanxenxo’s clubhouse and the wonderful apres sailing hospitality provided by the hosts, which includes a range of local beers, wines and produce, was hugely appreciated by the sailors. And once again the drying facility in the club’s boiler room came into its own!

Three races remain to be sailed in the eight-race series which concludes on Saturday 5 October.

PROVISIONAL RESULTS AFTER FIVE RACES

OPEN DIVISION

SUI77 – Junior – Rainer Muller/Loic Forestier – 2, 9, 1, 2, 6 = 20
ESP116 – Stella – Violeta Alvarez – 7, 2, 3, 7, 1 = 20
FIN81 – Oiva – Henrik Andersin – 5, 1, 5, 3, 7 = 21
USA 105 – Jane Ann – Basil Visilou/Steffan Lindberg – 1, 8, 4, 1, 10 = 24
GBR89 – Battlecry – Jeremy Thorp – 4, 3, 2, 10, 5 = 24

CLASSIC DIVISION

ESP 16 – Bribon – His Majesty King Juan Carlos – 1, 2, 1, 2, 2 = 8
FIN80 – Astree – Ossi Paija – 2, 1, 2, 4, 4 = 13
ESP72 – Titia – Mauricio Sanchez-Bella Carswell – 4, 3, 7, 1, 1 = 16
ESP50 – Alibaba II – Miguel Lago Cereceda – 5, 8, 3, 7, 6 = 29
FRA11 – Fun – Louis Heckly – 3, 5, 6, 3, OCS = 32

FULL RESULTS

Additional information about the 2024 International Six Metre European Championships is available at 6meuropeans2024.com. You can follow the regatta action online at:

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SIX RACES AND SIX WINNERS ON DAY TWO IN SANXENXO

October 1, 2024 fionabrown Leave a comment

The weather gods provided good wind on the second day of the Six Metre European Championships 2024 Trofeo Xacobeo, but it came with lots of rain and poor visibility, making for a tricky day on the water. The Real Club Nautico de Sanxenxo’s Race Committee initially postponed ashore before taking the fleet out to the inshore course in front of the clubhouse. Although the visibility came and went, they were none the less able to run three good races for both fleets in a brisk south-westerly, races two to four of the eight race series.

Once again, the racing was incredibly tight, and while the increased wind strength benefited some, it was less to the liking of others. The fact that of the six individual races run there were six different race winners is undoubtedly a testament to the outstanding quality of the competition.

Overall Standings

In the overall standings there is a three way tie for the lead as Basil Vasiliou’s Jane Ann (1985 Pelle Petterson design) retains her lead on countback alone, and is on equal points with Rainer Muller’s Junior, a 1981 Pelle Petterson design widely regarded as one of the most successful Six Metres ever built, skippered by Loic Forestier, and Henrik Andersin’s Oiva, designed by Allan Savolainen and built by Finland’s Red Sky Yachts in 2022. Four points back and also only separated on countback are Jeremy Thorp’s Battlecry (1988 Ian Howlett) in fourth and Violeta Alvarez’ Stella (2017 Juan Kouyoumdjian) in fifth.

Junior’s Nicolas Berthoud was pleased with their performance. “I would say it went quite well with the first and the second race, and then probably a ninth or something like that, but it was a tricky wet day. It was heavily left favoured, and we managed to take our advantage, even if we had a bad start once, so ultimately it was a great day for us.”

In the Classic Division overall standings, the regatta is currently something of a two-boat race between His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain’s Bribon (1947 Arvind Laurin), helmed today by Ross Macdonald, and Ossi Paija’s Astree III (1959 Bjarne Aas). Bribon added 2, 1, 2 to her scoreline to retain a three-point lead over Astree III who scored 1, 2, 4 in today’s races. Victory in race four saw Mauricio Sanchez-Bella Carswell’s Titia (1953 David Boyd) leapfrog over Louis Heckly’s Fun (1937 Olin Stephens) for third overall, while the Classics top five is now completed by Miguel Lago’s Alibaba II, which was designed by Tore Holm in 1948 and won Olympic Bronze in 1948 and 1952.

After racing Ossi Paija summed up Astree III’s day. “Well, today it was very interesting. The first thing was to figure out was where the top mark was, because you couldn’t see it! The next thing was to see the bottom mark for the same reason. And yeah, it was pretty wet. Pretty wavy. We had some heavy rainfalls and fog. Everything that the sky can throw at you. But we had good races. We had good pace in the first one, we took victory there. The second one was really close again, but we finished second. And, unfortunately in the third one we were fourth, so we were on a little bit of a downward curve. But we had a fantastic sailing day, nevertheless and we are still in the fight. His Majesty’s Bribon is leading, but I think we are in second place, so the Championship is within reach and we’re looking forward to the coming days.”

Open Division Race Roundup

In the Open Division Oiva showed the fleet a clean pair of heels in race two. With only one season of racing under their belts this team have been looking for the boat’s sweet spot, and it certainly looked like they found it today. Second in race two was Stella, with Battlecry third, Nick and Fotis Lykiardopulo’s Aera fourth and Duclop.

In race three Junior got a great start but had a tough fight with Battlecry, which she ultimately won. Following Battlecry home in third was Stella who had outsailed Duclop and Jane Ann on the final leg. Although Duclop finished fourth on the water she was subsequently disqualified in a port starboard protest against Ginkgotoo moving Jane Ann up into fourth.

Race four for the Opens was another great tussle and this time race one winner Jane Ann found her form again to lead the fleet home from Junior with Oiva third, Jan Eckert’s Ginkgotoo fourth and Aera fifth.

Classic Division Race Roundup

Having been narrowly bested by Bribon in yesterday’s opening race, Astree III was out for revenge, and she got it in race two where she successfully held off all advances from Bribon to take her first race win of the regatta. The chasing pack had some close racing of their own with Titia ultimately crossing the line third ahead of Fun and Alibaba II.

With a crew that includes Pedro Campos, Alejandro Abascal and Ross MacDonald, the Bribon crew should never be underestimated, and they came back stronger than ever in race three with another huge battle with Astree III that she won on the line. Third place went to Alibaba II, with Catalin Trandafir’s Essential fourth and Andy Postle’s Nirvana fifth.

Race four broke the Bribon/Astree II stranglehold as Titia found the front of the fleet and managed to fend off repeat advances from Bribon. Fun took third with Astree II fourth and Javier de La Gandara Alonso’s Aida, being skippered by Francisco Botas, fifth.

After sailing the crews returned to the Real Club Nautico de Sanxenxo where the après sailing party had been moved inside to the club’s spectacular third floor main bar overlooking the race area. Equally welcome was the fact that the boiler room had been opened so everyone could dry their kit!

Four races remain to be sailed in the series which continues until Saturday 5 October.

PROVISIONAL RESULTS AFTER FOUR RACES

OPEN DIVISION

USA 105 – Jane Anne – Basil Visilou/Steffan Lindberg – 1, 8, 4, 1 = 14
SUI77 – Junior – Rainer Muller/Loic Forestier – 2, 9, 1, 2 = 14
FIN81 – Oiva – Henrik Andersin – 5, 1, 5, 3 = 14
GBR89 – Battlecry – Jeremy Thorp – 4, 3, 2, 10 = 19
ESP116 – Stella – Violeta Alvarez – 7,. 2, 3, 7 = 19

CLASSIC DIVISION

ESP 16 – Bribon – His Majesty King Juan Carlos – 1, 2, 1, 2 = 6
FIN80 – Astree – Ossi Paija – 2, 1, 2, 4 = 9
ESP72 – Titia – Mauricio Sanchez-Bella Carswell – 4, 3, 7, 1 = 15
FRA11 – Fun – Louis Heckly – 3, 5, 6, 3 = 17
ESP50 – Alibaba II – Miguel Lago Cereceda – 5, 8, 3, 7 = 23

FULL RESULTS

Additional information about the 2024 International Six Metre European Championships is available at 6meuropeans2024.com. You can follow the regatta action online at:

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Momo & Bribon to defend their Six Metre European Championship titles in Sanxenxo

September 29, 2024 fionabrown Leave a comment

The International Six Metre fleet has gathered in Sanxenxo on Spain’s stunning Galician coast in preparation for the 2024 Six Metre European Championship. The current reigning champions, Dieter Schoen’s Momo of Switzerland in the Open Division and His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain’s Bribon in the Classic Division, will both defend their titles against teams from France, Finland, Great Britain, Greece, Romania, Switzerland, Spain and the USA.

Sanxenxo is familiar territory for the Sixes as the Real Club Nautico de Sanxenxo (RCNS) is home to a significant part of the Spanish fleet, and the club also hosted the 2021 European and 2022 World Championships.

International Six Metre Association President Louis Heckly reflected the feelings of the sailors saying, “We are delighted to be back in Sanxenxo again for this year’s European Championship. The RCNS is a superb host club, and we can look forward to a first-class regatta. I’m delighted to see so many nations represented on the entry list and to welcome Basil Vasiliou and the Jane Ann team all the way from the New York Yacht Club. I was lucky enough to win the Classic World Championship last time we were here, so I just hope my luck holds again this year!”.

Alongside great racing, the sailors will enjoy a warm social welcome from the RCNS. The regatta opened with a delightful Welcome Ceremony, where competitors enjoyed delicious local wines and foods in the RCNS race village as the sunset. There will also be daily après sailing gatherings and a spectacular Gala Prize Giving Dinner on Saturday evening.

In preparation for the Europeans many of the teams participated in the RCNS Regata Rey Juan Carlos I, Galicia’s biggest annual sailing regatta featuring some 160 boats, which took place from 27 to 29 September. In the Classic Division His Majesty King Juan Carlos gave notice that Bribon is on excellent form for her defence of the Classic European Championship, winning by six points from Finland’s Ossi Paija and his team aboard Astree III, with Spain’s Javier de La Gandara Alonso’s Aida third.

In the Open Division Momo put in a strong performance at the Regata Rey Juan Carlos I, but it was Sanxenxo’s own Violeta Alvarez and her crew in Stella that took the victor’s laurels by five points from Nick and Fotis Lykiardopulo’s Aera. Third place was tied on points with Jan Eckert’s Ginkgotoo just beating Momo to the final step on the podium on countback.

Racing for the Six Metre European Championship will get underway on Monday 30 September and runs until Saturday 5 October with a total of eight races scheduled over six days. You will be able to follow the racing on Facebook and Instagram and via the live tracking, which will go live shortly before the start of each race. Results will be posted at the event website.

Additional information about the 2024 International Six Metre European Championship, including a list of entries is available at 6meuropeans2024.com. You can follow the regatta action online at: