Xacobeo Six Metre World Championship 2022 at Real Club Nautico de Sanxenxo - Day 2
by Fiona Brown 15 Jun 2022 22:26 BST
14-18 June 2021
The second day of the Xacobeo Six Metre World Championship at the Real Club Nautico de Sanxenxo proved to be long and frustrating for the sailors and race committee alike.
The forecast going into the day indicated dull skies and extremely light airs, but with a possible window of approximately three hours when conditions might permit racing. Determined to be ready for any chance that came, the fleet was afloat on the outer course area in good time for the planned 13:00 start. Over the course of the next five hours zephyrs of breeze came and went from virtually every point of the compass, the fleet transferred to the inner course area and the race committee constantly monitored the situation. But all to no avail and eventually the boats were sent ashore to enjoy paella and live music in the Regatta Village.
In the overall standings therefore Dieter Schoner's Momo continues to lead the Open Division by just two points from Jamie Hilton's Scoundrel, Johan Larson's Rebecca and Philippe Durr and Rainer Müller's Junior, who all count eight points apiece but lie second to fourth respectively on countback. In the Classic Division Pedro Campos' Bribon 500 leads the pack by two points from Louis Heckly's Dix Août, with Ossi Paija's Astree III third and Thomas Kuhmann's Hankø III fourth.
Despite the lack of racing the crews were appreciative of all the effort that Race Officer Alejandro Marti´n de Pazos and his team had put into the day. International Six Metre Association President Louis Heckly summed up their feelings saying, "We're obviously disappointed with the weather, but we have witnessed the great work of the race committee to try at every moment to race. They were constantly reactive, even moving us from the first race area to the second to try to get a race in. But no wind happened and that leaves us with two or three races, weather permitting, tomorrow and we will see how that works. But despite the disappointment on the water, it was super to come back to the terrific hospitality of the club, which has been so welcoming and generous to us all."
One time Finn sailor Otto Pohlmann, who is based in Palma de Mallorca and joined the class earlier this year after considerable success in Dragons, was also frustrated not to race but admiring of the efforts of the race committee. Pohlmann has purchased the Pelle Petterson designed USA124 Bear, now renamed Meerblik Bear, which was built by Båtbyggarna Ab in Sweden for the 1989 World Cup. The boat underwent a major refit in 2015/16 in preparation for the Vancouver World Championship of 2017 and since acquiring her Pohlmann and his team have been hard at work bringing her up to speed, so are now keen to test themselves against this top-quality fleet. Meerblik Bear's crew includes Gabrielle Pohlmann, Spanish 49er sailor Albert Torres, double Snipe European Champion Laureano Witzner Perales and Olympic 470 Bronze medallist Nicholas Rodriquez Garcia-Paz, so we will be watching this strong new team's progress with interest.
Whilst the fleet is gathered in Sanxenxo the International Six Metre Association took the opportunity to hold its AGM, which this year included the presentation of a brand-new trophy, The Tim Street Perpetual Trophy. Over many years Tim Street has played an important role in helping to ensure that Classic Sixes (boats first certificated before December 1965) are still able to level race with their modern counterparts. Inevitably older wooden boats gradually take up water, eventually making it impossible for them to comply with the class flotation rules without significant loss of sail area, which renders them uncompetitive. To encourage the participation of as many Classic Sixes as possible Tim was part of a team that developed Class Rule Appendix A, through which older qualifying boats are allowed to float lower than their original designed waterline without a detrimental reduction in sail area. The stunning new trophy was initiated by Peter Hoffman and Rainer Müller of the Pacific Northwest Fleet and its creation was overseen by Puget Sound Six Metre sailor Adam Henley, who presented it to ISMA President Louis Heckly at the AGM. Sadly, Tim is not able to be present at this championship, but he will be delighted to know that five boats are competing under Appendix A for his trophy.
The regatta continues until Saturday 18 June and with three more days of racing to come the fleet remains hopeful of completing all eight scheduled races. Five races are required to validate the series and if six or more races are completed a single discard will be introduced. The forecast for day three is for further light airs but all fingers are crossed that sailing will be possible.
Provisional Results: (top five)
Open Division
1. SUI142 - Momo - Dieter Schoen - 1, 2 = 3pts
2. USA126 - Scoundrel - Jamie Hilton - 7, 1 = 8pts
3. SWE119 - Rebecca - Johan Larson - 5, 3 = 8pts
4. SUI77 - Junior - Philippe Durr - 4, 4 = 8pts
5. POR4 - Seljm - Patrick Monteiro de Barros - 3, 7 = 10pts
Classic Division
1. ESP16 - Bribon 500 - Pedro Campos Calvo-Sotelo - 3, 1 = 4pts
2. FRA111 - Dix Août - Louis Heckly - 2, 4 = 6pts
3. FIN80 - Astree III - Ossi Paija - 6, 2 = 8pts
4. USA96 - Hanko III - Thomas Kuhmann - 4, 5 = 9pts
5. GBR33 - Nirvana - Andy Postle - 7, 3 = 10pts
Full results available here.