Sopot success story for 5.5 Metre World Championship
by Robert Deaves 24 Jun 16:56 BST
9-13 June 2025
The dust may have settled on the 2025 5.5 Metre World Championship but the legacy will linger on for a long time.
The events in Sopot, Poland, from 9-13 June were a remarkable accomplishment by the local organisers and the class, taking the 5.5 Metres to a new country, and managed with precision and enthusiasm by a great team on and off the water. All told, the event was a great success story for the class, opening new avenues and new opportunities.
The 2025 5.5 Metre World Championship was finally won on the last race by The Jean Genie (GBR 43, Peter Morton, Andrew Palfrey, Ruairidh Scott). For Morton it was the culmination of five years' work and, along with Scott, their first world title in the class, while for Palfrey it was his third world title.
But for a few mistakes early in the series, The Jean Genie would likely have been further ahead going into the final day. A spinnaker under the boat whilst leading on Wednesday was costly, but they recovered well on Thursday to take the overall lead. Meanwhile the 2023 world champion boat Aspire (POL 17, Przemek Gacek, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Kilian Weise) were barely making a mistake, except the final race on Thursday, when they got buried on the first upwind.
Last year's world champions, Ku-Ring-Gai III (AUS 66 John Bacon, Edward Wright, Joost Houweling) were third. They won the title in 2024 without winning any races but were just more consistent across the wide range of conditions. Consistency again proved key in Sopot. After a tough start to the week Ku-Ring-Gai III closed out the series well and were only one of two boats to win more than one race, the other being The Jean Genie.
Peter Morton started in the class in 2019 with a Wilke hull, won his first event on Garda and then during the pandemic built two boats in Cowes, first GBR 41 Girls on Film, sailed into fourth place in Sopot by Louise Morton, Charlie Cumbley and Sam Haines. While Girls on Film was a new design by Steve Quigley of One2three in Australia, the second boat, GBR 42, The Jean Genie, designed by David Hollom, was a bigger departure from current 5.5 Metre thinking, with a longer waterline and smaller sail area.
"In 2022 we had the first The Jean Genie and I ended up in hospital when the worlds were on so that was a bitter sweet moment for me really as they won the worlds and I missed out, but it proved the boat was ok and this week we were hoping we'd have some wind. But it's not about me really, it's about the team, perfect preparation of the boat with Andrew Palfrey and Ruairidh Scott just didn't put a foot wrong all week really. If you have a good boat, are prepared, it's fast and you have a tactician that basically always puts you in the right place all the time, it makes it a lot easier for the helmsman, that's for sure.
"We got good clean starts, we had one little hiccup where we went fishing with the spinnaker over the boat and that put us on the back foot: we went from leading to 12th. But it was a good week, very close all the way, and all within boatlengths.
"It's nice to finally get the job done. It's frustrating when we went to two worlds and didn't get the conditions we wanted, I think the problem is we are two boats that are not effectively one design. The rest of them are a Swiss one design, so whenever it is light and a bit sticky the lake boats go and we end up 15th or 16th and they are still second and third. So, we need a bit of luck, but I think as the fleet gets bigger, then it will probably even up a bit."
On defending next year, "That's the plan, I have a few other things on my mind, and it's a big year in Cowes next year with 200 years of Cowes Week and as that's my home we will certainly do a 5.5 regatta there and see how it goes."
Scott added, "As Morty said, this is our third worlds together and at the first two there was not a lot of wind, so it was a test of character on board. But we survived the first day of this regatta when it was pretty light, sailed really well and got some good results so when the wind came in later in the week, we were able to use the boat to its potential."
Palfrey won his first 5.5 Metre world title in 2010, sailing with Flavio Marazzi and Christof Wilke, and the second with Elliot Hanson and Sam Haines in Hanko, Norway, in 2022.
Palfrey said, "Very satisfying to come back from a bad day a few days ago. We did a reset, started afresh and thankfully it went our way, and the breeze held. It was some fantastic sailing on the last two days, with sun and wind.
"On the trawl we had, we have these parties for the different nations and Louise had said were running a bit short of food and as everyone knows I always do my best to help Louise out, doing my bit, so I thought I'd put the kite in and trawl for some lobster.
"But anyway, all good. Great team and great week of sailing."
Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Przemek Gacek on Aspire were also involved in organising the regatta while trying to focus on the sailing, so second place was a great achievement after third place last year. Gacek said, "It was a fantastic sailing event, with mostly strong breezes — the kind of conditions our team truly enjoys. As always, we had some great races, and this time, unlike last year, we sailed with proper consistency. Our highest score was a seven, which we later discarded.
"We learned a lot this year and feel confident about the strength of our team, with Mateusz, Kilian, and Bunny as our coach. Of course, a few mistakes and some late starts cost us valuable points, and we weren't able to hold onto our lead after the second day. We had hoped for 10-11 knots of wind on the final day, but the breeze ended up being stronger.
"A big congratulations to Peter Morton's team for a well-deserved victory, and to John Bacon for securing third place and pushing us to fight until the very last metres of the final race.
"The gala dinner, held at the Olivia Centre, was spectacular. We were thrilled to see so many smiling — albeit tired — faces around us. What an incredible week it was."
Both Aspire and third placed Ku-Ring-Gai III are standard Wilke hulls, built in Switzerland.
John Bacon, from Ku-Ring-Gai III, said "We came to Poland this year, a completely unfamiliar venue, with a strong focus on defending our 2025 world championship. Arriving early was a great advantage as we were able to experience the full range of conditions before the event began. Unlike other more predictable venues, the wind in Sopot can come from pretty much every direction and each has its idiosyncrasies particularly when coming off the land.
"We really appreciated the addition of the President's Cup as a warm up event this year and as a result we felt well prepared for the start of the championship. However, we were not able to make the best of the tricky offshore conditions in the first two days putting us well down the scoresheet at half way point.
"For the second half of the regatta, conditions shifted to a stronger and more stable onshore breeze. Then the combination of some solid scores and a big drop put us into a very satisfying third place. I feel we gave a good showing to our defence and congratulations to the Brits and the Poles for their first and second places.
"We are super excited to continue our programme towards Athens in 2026. Thanks, Poland for having us."
Throughout the fleet there are many stories of challenges and success, with many boats producing remarkable performances.
The growing French fleet was represented by Enez C'lass II (FRA 63, Nicolas Abiven, Yann Delabriere, Sylvie Delabriere), who have demonstrated commitment to attending many events in recent years after first starting in the class in 2017.
Of the three Australian entries, Manly (AUS 44 Marc Ryan, Dave Edwards, Josh Grace) had their moments to finish in the top 10 for the first time, while Beta Crucis (AUS 63 Martin Cross, Bob Stoddard, Simon Reffold) recorded their best world championship result ever in seventh. Beta Crucis is now for sale, so a great opportunity to acquire a fast, sorted Modern 5.5 Metre.
Otto (NOR 68 Bent Christian Wilhelmsen, Lasse Berthelsen, Herve Cunningham) have settled on sailing the older Wilke hull after trying the original Dave Hollom boat, GBR 42, that won the worlds in 2022. Some moments of brilliance, including a race win and some mistakes and inconsistency left them in eighth place.
Multiple world champions Artemis (NOR 57, Kristian Nergaard, Johan Barne Trond, Solli-Sæther), made hard work of the series early in the week with a number of mistakes, however pulled it together for the second half of the week with four top three places, but it was too late to make the podium
Past world champions, John B (BAH 26 Gavin McKinney, Larn Horn Johannessen, Mathias Dahlman), Marie-Françoise XXII (SUI 233, Jürg Menzi, Jürgen Eiermann, Christof Wilke) and New Moon III (BAH 25 Mark Holowesko, Christoph Burger, Peter Vlasov) all had their moments. Having won the Scandinavian Gold Cup the previous week, Marie-Françoise XXII was sailing fast but could only manage sixth overall.
One of the positives of the week was the first USA team for 24 years at the world championship. Red & White (USA 116, William Turner, Philip Davis, Ryan Sheridan) struggled a bit with boat setup and speed in their borrowed boat, but remained enthusiastic throughout and will take this passion back to North America's growing fleet, with boats in both USA and Canada regular coming together for events.
Despite the proximity, only thee German boats crossed the border to Poland. Prettynama (GER 79, Max Müller, Philipp Müller, Max Steigel), NN (GER 118 Thies-H. Först, Geert Morf, Karsten Morf) and last year's German Open champions No Stress (GER 39 Donald Lippert, Ralf Göpfert, Jörg Sonntag), who put together a creditable series including four top 10 places.
Switzerland has one of the biggest fleets in the world, after Germany, with five Swiss boats taking part. Shaolin (SUI 226 Patrick Zaugg, Andreas Kindlimann, Hans von Werdt) had a mixed series with two early starts on the same day while Forza del destino (SUI 211 George Prapopoulos, Simon Pfaendler, Thomas Huber) had clearly benefitted from some early season training camps on Lake Como.
Always great competitors, Caracole (SUI 214, Bernard Haissly, Nicolas Berthoud, Daniel Stampfli) had a mixed fourth day to drop out of the top 10 but took home the Robin Aisher Trophy for the oldest combined crew age, again.
Ali Baba (GER 84 Richter Wolf-Eberhard, Beata Kallkowski, Jörg Grunewald) took home Frank Tolhurst Perpetual Trophy for the first Evolution hull.
While the worlds in Poland was a definite success story for the class, numbers were lower than hoped for, though the coming events this year are well subscribed with the Swiss Open in Geneva being followed by the French Open at Cannes, as well as many regional events in Germany, France and Switzerland. All links are at: 5.5class.org/regattas/calendar
This year's world championship was the first time the class had ventured to Poland and next year will be another first, with the Scandinavian Gold Cup and World Championship heading to Greece for the first time, hosted by the Yacht Club of Greece, with the events held in Lavrion, just south of Athens. Preparations are under way and there is understandable anticipation of another great championship. It's an exciting time for the class.
Prizewinners
Scandinavian Gold Cup - Marie-Françoise XXII (SUI 233, Jürg Menzi, Jürgen Eiermann, Christof Wilke)
President's Cup - Girls on Film (GBR 41, Louise Morton, Charlie Cumbley, Sam Haines)
World Championship - The Jean Genie (GBR 43, Peter Morton, Andrew Palfrey, Ruairidh Scott)
DEB Cup (Winner R1) - The Jean Genie (GBR 43, Peter Morton, Andrew Palfrey, Ruairidh Scott)
Peter Fazer Memorial Trophy (Winner R2) - Otto (NOR 68 Bent Christian Wilhelmsen, Lasse Berthelsen, Herve Cunningham)
Felix Bibus Trophy (Winner R3) - Aspire (POL 17, Przemek Gacek, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Kilian Weise)
H.R. Symonette Trophy (Winner of race decided by Symonette family, R5) - Artemis (NOR 57, Kristian Nergaard, Johan Barne Trond, Solli-Sæther)
The Professor's Trophy (Winner last race) - The Jean Genie (GBR 43, Peter Morton, Andrew Palfrey, Ruairidh Scott)
Frank Tolhurst Perpetual Trophy (First Evolution) - Ali Baba (GER 84 Richter Wolf-Eberhard, Beata Kallkowski, Jörg Grunewald)
Roni Pieper Trophy (4th place Overall) - Girls on Film (GBR 41, Louise Morton, Charlie Cumbley, Sam Haines)
Female Helm - Girls on Film (GBR 41, Louise Morton, Charlie Cumbley, Sam Haines)
Corinthian Trophy - Manly (AUS 44 Marc Ryan, Dave Edwards, Josh Grace)
RPAYC Handicap Jug - Artemis (NOR 57, Kristian Nergaard, Johan Barne Trond, Solli-Sæther)
Robin Aisher Trophy, oldest combined crew age - Caracole (SUI 214, Bernard Haissly, Nicolas Berthoud, Daniel Stampfli)