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Keep up with all the latest news from the Six Metre World Championship 2023 being hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes from 4 to 8 September at 6metreworlds.com
The 2023 Hamble Classics Regatta with earlier than usual Bank Holiday timing provided great sailing conditions for a wide range of yachts, dayboats and gaffers on two contrasting days. A regular entrant described it as ‘the best HCR ever!’ with Saturday’s dramatic skies, winds shifts and rain squalls making way for steadier conditions on Sunday but it was still demanding on crew work as an 8 knot breeze built to 19 knots in the afternoon.
With the RAFYC as the social base and race management by Hamble River Sailing Club the varied fleet of 31 yachts with build dates from 1886 to 2018 was split into six starts; IRC, Regatta Handicap, Old Gaffer, XOD, plus the International 6-Metres invited for practice before their World Championship starting this week in Cowes. The PRO Peter Bateson assisted by Kathy Smalley and a strong volunteer team of Assistant RO’s and RIB crews set round-the-cans courses to suit each class plus windward-leewards for the two 6-Metre divisions, Classic and Open, and a mix of courses for the XODs.
With five entries total the 6-Metre owners requested to start together on Sunday for the final two of five scheduled races, with Simon Williams’ Silvervingen winning the classics division from his other yacht Abu helmed by Klaus Diederichs and Andy Short’s Olin Stephens designed Nancy skippered by Vince Hayter. In the Open Division Martin Westerdahl & Hugo Stenbeck’s Sophie II scored 2,1,1,1,1 after a first race win by Foti Lykiardopulo’s Aera.
At the prize giving after racing on Sunday, event organiser Jonty Sherwill thanked both the clubs, Vicki his wife and hard working crew aboard Cockleshell, and the sponsor partners Spinlock, Classic Marine, the Elephant Boatyard, OneSails, the Sandeman Yacht Company, and the Salcombe Distilling Company, supporter of the Concours d’Elegance Awards with their Start Point Gin.
The prize winners were presented with Hamble Classics 2023 engraved champagne flutes by HRSC Commodore Serena Alexander, and each yacht with a OneSails permanent marker pen made from Pip Hare’s recycled 4T FORTE sails used during the Vendée Globe Race 2020-2021.
In addition to the racing prizes there were also Concours d’Elegance prizes, and in this competition the top prize for Ultimate Condition and Provenance was awarded jointly to International 6-Metres Abu and Silvervingen owned by Simon Williams – Abu designed by Johan Anker, built 1932 and Silvervingen designed by Tore Holm, built 1939
The race results are available at: https://hambleclassics.co.uk
Ends
The 8th Hamble Classics Regatta on August 26th-27th already has some great entries, Whooper, Uandi, and the gaff-rigged Six-Metre Sheila amongst them, and with near forty International Six Metres soon to arrive in Cowes for their World Championship the event is offering these teams a well-organised practice and tune-up regatta with windward-leeward courses in the Central Solent. All Sixes are welcome, modern and classic, with five races scheduled over two days.
Hamble Classics was created in 2016 by Jonty and Vicki Sherwill and designed as a late season celebration of classic yachting to welcome all styles of classic yachts with racing formats to suit each type including:
Classic Racers, Cruisers and Dayboats, the International Metre classes, Old Gaffers, Spirit of Tradition and One-Designs. Hamble Classics 2023 has race management provided by Hamble River Sailing Club, famous for its popular Hamble Winter Series, with Peter Bateson as PRO, and the Royal Air Force Yacht Club as shore base and social venue.
Jonty Sherwill is a three-times Six Metre British Open Championship winning crew in 1988, 1989 and 1994 and a keen supporter of the class: “We look forward to seeing the latest innovative Six Metres and superb classics, and of course our regular supporters with their classic racers including GRP yachts, Old Gaffers and XODs – photographer Rick Tomlinson should be spoilt for choice!”
Entry is available now – programme details, NOR and online entry at the event website: https://hambleclassics.co.uk
The Solent is the place to be for International Six Metre sailing this summer with a full season of topflight regattas on offer, culminating in the Six Metre World Championships, hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron from Thursday 31 August to Friday 8 September.
Teams from across Europe and North America will be joining a strong British contingent taking part in a series of regattas in the central Solent as they prepare for what promises to be a thrilling Worlds.
Over the Whitsun weekend the fleet will participate in the Royal Thames Yacht Club (RTYC) Bank Holiday Regatta from Saturday 27 to Monday 29 May. This event will be a special Six Metre Training Regatta with racing on the World Championship course area.
From Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 June there’s the RTYC Regatta incorporating the Six Metre British Open Championship, with two trophies available to the winners – The Lion Bowl (Open division) and The Dudley Head Salver (Classic division). Again racing will be on the World Championship course area with post sailing gatherings in Cowes.
From Monday 17 to Friday 21 July there will be special windward leeward racing for the Sixes as part of the renowned British Classic Yacht Club Regatta. The fleet will be based at the event’s Cowes Yacht Haven race village, where there will be daily après sailing fun and a gala prize giving dinner. The race officer and his team for this event will the same team running the Worlds event at RYS in September, so a good dry-run for both them and the 6mRs.
Immediately following the BCYC Regatta is the Household Division Yacht Club Regatta on Saturday 22 July, which will be followed by prize giving reception at the Squadron.
Traditionally the Hamble Classics Regatta has been held in September, but this year the date has been brought forward to the weekend of 26 and 27 August, making it the perfect final warm up event before the Worlds. Hosted jointly by the Hamble River Sailing Club and the Royal Airforce Yacht Club in Hamble, racing will be in the central Solent, while the RAFYC will host the daily social events.
Already thirty-three teams have confirmed their intention to participate in the Worlds including the reigning Open Champion Momo and the reigning Classic Champion Dix Aout. Racing against the home British boats will be crews from Sweden, the USA, Switzerland, Spain, Finland, Canada, Greece, Germany, France and the Netherlands.
Online entry for the event is now open and further information about the 2023 Six Metre Worlds is available at 6metreworlds.com. Further information about all the warmup events can be found on the British Six Metre Association website.
For further information about the event please contact:
Tom Owen
Chair, British International Six Metre Association (BISMA)
chair@6mr.org.uk
Jess Gray
Event Manager & Logistics Coordinator, Six Metre World Championships 2023
jessicagraypr@gmail.com
Fiona Brown
Media Officer, International Six Metre Associaiton (ISMA)
fiona.brown@fionabrown.com
+44 (0)7711 718470
With participation and interest in the International Six Metre Class currently running high, the International Six Metre Association (ISMA) is delighted to announce that the 2023 Six Metre World Championships will be hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS), Cowes, UK from 31 August to 8 September.
As usual the boats will be divided into Open and Classic divisions with teams from across Europe and North America already confirming their participation. Several new Sixes have been built in recent years and it is anticipated that another new boat will be launched in time to join the fleet in Cowes.
Registration and measurement for the regatta will open on Tuesday 29 August, four practice races will take place on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 September (two each day), and World Championship racing will run from Monday 4 to Friday 8 September. A total of eight championship races are scheduled, with five races required to constitute the championship. Once six races have been completed a single discard will be introduced.
The regatta is being organised in association with the British International Six Metre Association (BISMA), which looks forward to welcoming international visitors to Cowes, the home of British Yachting. The Royal Yacht Squadron’s reputation for top class regatta management is world-renowned and for this event Peter Saxton from the RYS will be running the racing activities as the Race Officer (RO).
Class social events will be hosted at The Castle, the Squadron’s historic waterside clubhouse, and at Cowes Yacht Haven, the marina berthing for all competitors, where competitors will enjoy daily post sailing social gatherings and a special World Championship Class Dinner.
The Worlds will be the culmination of a summer of special Six Metre events in Cowes. For those who would like to train on the World Championship race area, there will be a series of warm up regattas, with events approximately every three to four weeks, including the British Open Championship (22-25 June) and a week of racing in July at British Classic Week (17-21 July).
Special logistical and storage arrangements are being made for the boats in Cowes, further details of which are available from the event website. All Six Metre competitors are encouraged to contact Event Manager & Logistics Coordinator, Jess Gray (jessicagraypr@gmail.com), with details of their individual arrival and training schedules so that all the logistics of storage and launching in Cowes can be arranged.
“The Squadron last hosted a Six Metre World Championships in 2007 and we are delighted to be returning there again for 2023. The British Sixes regard the RYS as their spiritual home, and we are looking forward to welcoming our international friends for a summer of fierce competition afloat and relaxed camaraderie ashore. Racing will be on windward leeward courses in the central and eastern Solent areas and with Peter Saxton and his expert race team from the Squadron, we can look forward to superb racing.” – Tom Owen, BISMA Chair.
The Notice of Race and online entry for the regatta, together with a host of supporting information, are now available from www.6metreworlds.com.
For further information about the event please contact:
Tom Owen
Chair, British International Six Metre Association (BISMA)
chair@6mr.org.uk
Jess Gray
Event Manager & Logistics Coordinator, Six Metre World Championships 2023
jessicagraypr@gmail.com
Fiona Brown
Media Officer, International Six Metre Associaiton (ISMA)
fiona.brown@fionabrown.com
+44 (0)7711 718470
The Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes will host the 2023 International Six Metre World Championships from 31 August to 8 September. Further information about this event will follow shortly, but in the meantime please complete our Expression of Interest Form below if you hope to participate.
If you are interested in buying a Six or sailing in the British Six Metre fleet please contact our Class Chair on chair@6mr.org.uk. You will find listings of boats for sale on both the BISMA and ISMA websites and details of our forthcoming programme of events here.
The 2023 BISMA programme is now available to view online. The programme offers a fantastic range of events, culminating in the ISMA World Championship, being hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, from 31 August to 8 September.
Please see below for BCYC Classic Week (2021) NOR and online Entry page.
Please see below for Hamble Classics (2021) NOR and Entry for 10-12 September 2021.
British International Six Metre Association 