• Two perfect Solent races get the International Six Metre World Championship at the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, off to a flying start.
• Jamie Hilton’s Scoundrel tops the Open Division with Violeta Alvarez’ Stella second and Eugenio Galdon Brugarolas’ Maybe XIV third.
• Simon William’s Silvervingen leads the Classic Division from Mauricio Sanchez-Bella’s Titia with Rainer Muller’s Saskia third.
• In the Corinthian, all-amateur, competition Maybe XIV leads the Open Division and Saskia leads the Classic Division.

4 September 2023 – Cowes, UK – Glorious sun, a steady south-easterly breeze of 10 to 15 knots and a stunning fleet of thirty-four International Six Metres made for the perfect start to the Six Metre World Championship in Cowes. The Royal Yacht Squadron’s Race Officer Peter Saxton set the fleet two windward/leeward courses over the Bramble Bank and got racing underway on time at 11:30. For the most part the fleet behaved well, although it did take three attempts, the third under black flag, to get the Open Division away for race two.

In the Open Division Jamie Hilton’s USA126 Scoundrel, a gleaming varnished 1989 Ian Howlett design, built by Paul Litton and sailing for the New York Yacht Club, got the regatta off to a great start with a confident win in the opening race, followed by solid third, putting them into a three-point lead.

Scoundrel’s Hilton gave credit to his boat after racing saying, “I think the racecourse, the venue is fantastic, the race committee work is fantastic, and Scoundrel is a great boat. She’s from here originally and she seems to like the breeze and likes it at home. The idea amongst the crew is to let the boat do the work and the boat is doing great work.”.

Violeta Alvarez at the helm of GBR112 Stella, designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian, built by Astilleros Garrido Shipyard in 2017 and sailing for the Royal Yacht Squadron, began with a fifth and then took second in race two to put her into second Open Division overall. Filling third place with a third and sixth in the opening races is Eugenio Galdon Brugarolas’ 1987 Pelle Petterson designed ESP70 Maybe XIV, which was built by Båtbyggarna Ab in Sweden and is based at the Real Club de Regatas de Cartagena. Maybe XIV is racing with an all-amateur crew so she also heads up the Open Corinthian Division too.

The winner of the second Open Division race was Jan Eckert’s SUI140 GinkgoToo, built in 2020 by Nene Gallardo to a Javier Cela design and sailing for the Societe Nautic Geneve, but with a fourteenth in the opener he finds himself in eighth overall. A total of eight races are scheduled and a single discard will only be introduced once six races are completely.

Speaking after racing Ginkgo Too’s Torvar Mirsky said “We’ve been in all the different positions in the fleet today. In the first race it was tricky, the two races today were in a transition of current and the current is as strong as it gets at the moment. I’m new to this area and I felt like we had a good plan, but it wasn’t a good plan! The guys who went left on the first upwind of the first race did really well, we went right, and it wasn’t so pretty. The fleet is really strong, it’s really good racing. We’re really happy to win the second race, it’s a big milestone for our team to get this boat up to speed and to win a race here at these world championships is a great thing for us and we’re looking forward to the week. Obviously tough with this first race, but it’s going to be fun.”

For defending Open Champion Dieter Schoen and his team aboard SUI142 Momo, the 2022 Vroelick design built by Wilke and sailing for the Sailing Club St Moritz, the regatta got off to a mediocre start with a ninth in race one and a fifth in race two, putting them on seventh overall, but there’s a lot of racing ahead and one would be unwise to discount this hugely consistent team this early.

The famously tricky Solent tide was turning during the races and several teams struggled to get to grips with its vagaries. This was particularly obvious in the Classic Division where the results were a much more mixed bag. Top Classic performer was Simon William’s new team aboard GBR31 Silvervingen, a 1939 Tore Home design built by Hägerstens Båtvarv and sailing for the New York Yacht Club. Since her acquisition by Williams, Silvervingen has undergone a significant refit in preparation for this event. His team may be new to Sixes, but they certainly don’t lack experience, with a crew that includes double Olympic Gold Medallist Shirley Robertson and British Tornado Olympian Mark Bulkley. A steady seventh followed by a third puts them into a two-point lead overall in the Classics.

The points in the Classic Division are very close with the top nine boats separated by just four points. In second by a single point thanks to a race two win is Mauricio Sanchez-Bella’s ESP72 Titia from the Real Club Nautico de Sanxenxo, a 1952 design by David Boyd, built by Woodnutts at Bembridge, that represented Britain at the 1952 Olympics.

Mauricio Sanchez-Bella noted, “Its been a very special day because we have done a tenth and then a first. I think it represents how difficult it is to sail in these waters. The currents can make you finish in front or last and it’s quite interesting because it’s kind of a different sport because you have to take care of the current so much, but it was fun and a fantastic day, sunshine and very good wind so happy! Who knows who is going to prevail at the end, because as we have seen today anything can happen and it’s very open to all the boats in the fleet. It’s nice to have this tension until the end.”.

With just a single point delta on Titia sits Saskia II, Rainer Muller’s 1934 William Fife design skippered by Pierre Geux. A second and eleventh on their card put them into third Classic overall and first Classic Corinthian team. Saskia’s achievement is all the more impressive when you note that she lost her mast during warm-up racing and has had to borrow, rerig, measure and step a new mast in just 48 hours.

The defending Champion, Louis Heckly’s Dix Août, on loan for this regatta to top French offshore and Dragon sailor Géry Trentesaux, got her defence off to a great start with a win in race one, but then fell foul of the changing tides and found herself down in fourteenth in the second race. It was also a mixed day for Heckly too, who this year is sailing Fun, a 1937 Olin Stephens design sailing for the RYS, who was pleased with a third in the opener but understandably disappointed with a twelfth in the second, which leaves him seventh Classic overall.

Six Metre sailors love nothing more than an opportunity to talk about their beloved boats, and the regatta social programme has been perfectly crafted to facilitate that. On Sunday evening the teams came together at the Royal Yacht Squadron in the presence of His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain to enjoy delicious champagne and canapés, catch up with old friends and make new ones, and look forward to an exciting championship to come, all set against a spectacular Solent sunset. 

On behalf of the Royal Yacht Squadron Commodore Sir James Holman noted the club’s very long-standing relationship with the Sixes, which began when the class was first introduced in 1907, and expressed the club’s delight that over a century later that link is as strong as ever. “The Royal Yacht Squadron are privileged and delighted to welcome the Six Metre class to their first Worlds in the U.K. for fifteen years. There is growing excitement as these beautiful and classic boats and their outstanding crews gather in Cowes from throughout Europe and Northern America, and we look forward to some close and thrilling racing.”

After sailing today, the teams gathered at the waterside Cowes Yacht Haven race village where they enjoyed a hog roast and made to order cocktails courtesy of Tipsy Wight’s horsebox cocktail bar.

The weather forecast for Wednesday is for very light airs and so the Race Committee has announced that tomorrow it will bring the start of racing forward thirty minutes to 11:00 and they plan to race three races. Once five races have been completed the championship will be secure and after the sixth race a single discard will be allowed. Championship racing continues until Friday 8 September with up to eight races scheduled.

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.

Provisional Top Five Open Division
1st Scoundrel, USA123, Jamie Hilton – 1, 3 = 4
2nd Stella, GBR112, Violeta Alvarez – 5, 2 = 7
3rd Maybe XIV, ESP70, Eugenio Galdon Brugarolas – 3, 6 = 9
4th Sophie II, SUI132, Hugo Stenbeck – 2, 10 = 12
5th Battlecry, GBR89, Jeremy Thorp – 8, 4 = 12

Provisional Top Five Classic Division
1st Silvervingen, GBR31, Simon Williams – 7, 3 = 10
2nd Titia, ESP72, Mauricio Sanchez-Bella – 11, 1 = 12
3rd Saskia II, SUI19, Rainer Muller – 2, 11 = 13
4th Hanko III, GER96, Thomas Kuhman – 12, 3 = 14
5th Nirvana, GBR33, Andy & Lisa Postle – 6, 8 = 14

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Cowes, UK – 2 September 2023 – A second day of warm-up racing for the thirty-four strong fleet preparing for the International Six Metre Worlds in Cowes saw two final practice races run by the Royal Yacht Squadron. With the wind in the south-east and ranging from 7 to 14 knots the course was set up over the Bramble Bank to avoid the worst of the very strong spring tides and the fleet got underway on time at noon for two great races. 

In the Open Division Hugo Stenbeck’s Sophie II was the top performer adding a third and then a first to yesterday’s fifth, giving them overall victory in the warm-up series. Jamie Hilton’s Scoundrel was the other race winner, but an eleventh in the third race added to yesterday’s third put them into third overall. Meanwhile yesterday’s race victor, Jeremy Thorp’s Battlecry, had a mixed day, but a tenth followed by a third was more than enough to give them second. Others who showed serious potential but only completed two races apiece included Basil Vasilou’s Jane Ann with a sixth and second, and Jan Eckert’s Ginkgotoo with a pair of fourths. Defending World Champion Dieter Schoen’s Momo was OCS in the third race but counted a second and an eighth and were very happy with their performance to date.

After racing Dieter Schoen commented, “Yesterday we finished second, so it was a good race, today’s first race we were I think ninth and the second race we were OCS, we won it but we were disqualified. It’s difficult for us to sail on the Solent and it will be interesting going forwards. We have Jules Salter on board, he’s a local navigator, I sailed with him a few years ago in a few long-distance races so I know him very well and it’s good to have him with us. The fleet is stronger than last year, and boats are closer together so it will be good racing. I think there will be six or seven boats that could win the Worlds – Junior, Ginkgo Too, Junior, Battlecry, the two US boats, Stella, so it’s a strong fleet.”

Andy and Lisa Postle’s Nirvana topped the Classic rankings overall, but top Classic performer today was Peter Hofmann and Rainer Muller’s Llanoria with a fourth followed by a win, which puts her in second place overall. Patrick Sandman’s May Be VI was the only other classic to complete all three races and rounded out the top three. Of the boats that only completed two races it was clear that reigning Classic European Champion Bribon, skippered by His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain, was on flying form with second and third place finishes. Debutant Six Metre sailor Géry Trenteseaux, racing the defending World Champion Dix Août, won race two and then took a fifth in the final race firmly declaring himself in contention to defend his boat’s title. 

Explaining how he came to lend his beloved Dix Août to Géry Trenteseaux and to be racing Classic Six Metre Fun himself, ISMA Chairman Louis Heckly said, “Before the Worlds last year, I knew I was going to lend my boat, because my late father would have loved this champion to come to the Six Metre Class, but he wasn’t able to make it happen. So, I rang Gery a couple of months before the 2022 Worlds and I said ‘next year the Worlds are in the Isle of Wight at your club [the Royal Yacht Squadron] so I’m going to bring the boat up there and you are going to try the Six Metre Class, and maybe you will have a title to defend.’ As a matter of fact, we were lucky enough to win that Championship and the evening we won I called him and said – ‘You have to defend the title now!’.”

Asked about how he was feeling about this momentous challenge Géry Trenteseaux said, “I have no challenge I am just here to sail the best with my crew, but I have no pressure and I am just very proud to sail on Louis’ team. The boat is a good one, we won the first race today so it’s a good boat, but the best is to be in Cowes, it’s the main place in the World for racing and we are both Squadron members so it’s important to be here.”

The camaraderie of the Six Metre Class is renowned, and we have seen a wonderful demonstration of this over the past 24 hours. In the pre-start of Friday’s first warm-up race Pierre Geux and Rainer Mueller’s Saskia was involved in an altercation that saw her loose her mast. The team rapidly got the broken rig back aboard and returned to the marina, uncertain whether they would be able to race in the Worlds or not. But Six Metre sailors never like to see a fellow crew in trouble and as the rest of fleet returned to shore plans were already being hatched to mount a rescue.

Pierre Geux takes up the story; “These things happen on the water, but the true asset of our class is being able to bring together people from different crews to find a solution when one of the teams needs help. Our thanks must go to Violeta [Alvarez] who had a spare mast in Lymington that she was able to offer us. We have crews from several other boats helping us re-rig the mast, including Andy Postle and some of his team from AllSpars. Another problem for us was finding a big enough RIB to be able to bring the mast from Lymington to Cowes, and I must thank His Majesty King Juan Carlos who most graciously lent us Bribon’s RIB, which he was happy to make ready for us at 7am this morning so that the mast could be here in Cowes by 9am. It will be two days of hard work for the Saskia team and our many helpers, but thanks to our wonderful friends we will be ready to race again in the first of the World Championship races on Monday.”

Sunday is a day off from racing, but the Six Metre owners will be attending the International Six Metre Association AGM during the morning and then in the late afternoon there will be a World Championship briefing by Race Officer Peter Saxton. In the evening everyone will come together to officially declare the championship open at the Regatta Opening Reception at the Royal Yacht Squadron.

Racing will commence on Monday 4 September with a first warning signal scheduled for 11:25 and a total of eight races are planned between then and Friday 9 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

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