6 Metre European Championship at Brunnen, Switzerland - Day 1
by Fiona Brown 17 Jul 2016 18:29 BST
14-19 July 2016
Over the last few days the 31 crews who were registered for the Swiss International 6 Metre Class Championship did not have much to cheer about. Constant rain and almost no wind greeted the sailors every day. For today's start of the International 6 Metre European Championship regatta however, the Urnersee, the most eastern arm of the Lake of Lucerne, presented itself in the best possible way: It was a gorgeous, sunny day with perfect thermal winds of up to 16 knots, which allowed for two good races for both the Modern and the Classic fleets. Race officer Martin Kolb was very pleased: "Everything worked out smoothly. And most important: The sailors finally got to enjoy the legendary wind the region is known for".
After two races the Swiss boat Junior with Jean-Marc Monnard at the helm leads the Modern fleet with the perfect score of two first places, followed by the Swiss boat Temptation 3, piloted by Beat Furrer, the president of the Association Suisse 6mJI. In the Classics fleet (built before 1956) the US boat Llanoria leads the pack with Skipper Eric Jespersen managing to claim a 1st and a 2nd place, but competitor Nada from Great Britain, with Poul Hoj-Jensen at the helm, is following just 1 point behind.
Bad luck for the oldest yacht in the fleet
Despite the good conditions the opening was not a good one for the oldest boat in the fleet, the Swiss Yacht Ran VIII. Just before the start of the first race, the owner Carsten Joergensen and Skipper Stefan Epper noticed a crack in the mast. Although barely visible when not under load, the danger of breaking the mast during the race would have been much too high, so the crew had no other choice than to pull back into the harbour of Fallenbach, where they could apply a temporary fix. They managed to get back out to the race zone almost in time for the second race and crossed the starting line only with a little delay.
The championship continues until Tuesday with up to eight races scheduled. Five races are required to constitute a championship. When fewer than six races have been sailed all her races will be counted, if 6 or 7 races have been sailed she will discard her worst score, and if 8 races are sailed she will discard her worst two scores.
Results can be found here.