2025 Six Metre World Championships at Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club - Day 3
by Fiona Brown 25 Sep 2025 05:52 BST
September 22-26, 2025
A lack of sunshine didn't detract from the sparkle of the International Six Metre fleet on day three of their 2025 World Championships at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club on Long Island. Races two and three of the series were completed in a steady breeze from 080 degrees, which built from around 6 knots at the start of race two, to circa 12 knots by the end of race three.
In the Classic Championship overall standings His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain's Bribon scored two impressive race wins and now leads the regatta on five points. She has a six-point delta over Alessandro Maria Rinaldi's Jill, who hangs onto second despite a near dismasting during race two. Two further points behind lies Thomas Kuhmann's Flapper, in third, while Mauricio Sanchez-Bella's Titia and Greg Stuart's Spring are both on 16 points, with Titia taking fourth place on countback.
After racing His Majesty was very happy with their results. "It was a hard fight but thanks to God we won. We are very happy, but we still have a lot of work to do. I am very sad that the French team, who are good friends of mine, had to pull out today. We missed our fight with them!"
Open Division race one went to Laurence Clerc's Duclop skippered by Eric Monnin, while race two was won by Dieter Schoen's Momo II, which had finished second in the morning race. In the overall standings Momo II now leads the regatta by three points from Rainer Müller's Eau Vive skippered by Jamie Hilton which had a solid day with a fourth and a third. Just one point behind is Foti Lykiardopulo's Aera, thanks to the third and second they added to their score card. Duclop's race two win was followed by a fifth, putting Duclop into fourth overall, five points behind Aera and just one point ahead of Basil Vasiliou's Jane Anne.
Speaking after racing Eric Monnin of Duclop said. "It was great to win a race at the World Championship after a difficult day yesterday, so it feels good. I think we've got momentum and hope to continue tomorrow. We also had a little more difficult race in the last race, but I think compared to yesterday we improved a lot so we're ready to go for tomorrow. I think the wind was a bit more stable and steady. We had classical tactics, we wanted to go right, and we were able to do that. We could do what we wanted to do and that helped a lot. Yesterday we were struggling a lot more in the middle of the fleet. We feel good, but we need to improve every day and hopefully grab one or two places here and there."
Classic Division Race by Race
Classic Division day three was dominated by Bribon, who won both races. In race two she was challenged hard by Louis Hekckly's Fun, but she kept the upper hand and led the fleet home, with Fun second, Maruicio Sanchez-Bella's Titia third, and race one winner Alessandro Maria Rinaldi's Jill fourth.
Off the line in race three Bribon got another good start near the committee boat, while Fun looked good in the middle of the line. But only a few minutes into the race Fun was forced to pull up and drop her sails. Back ashore owner Louis Heckly explained that the boat has suffered a serious structural issue that prevented them from continuing. They are currently working on the boat in the hope of being able to continue the regatta tomorrow.
Meanwhile back on the Classics racecourse Bribon's choice to stay right was a canny one and by the top mark she had already established her lead with Titia, Flapper and Jill trailing in her wake. Titia and Flapper enjoyed a close tousle around the course to come second and third respectively, but on each leg Jill seemed to drop back slightly, although she just managed to fend off Totem and Spring, with the three-boats crossing the line in that order.
After sailing Jill's owner explained that on the first beat, they suffered an almost catastrophic failure of one of the bronze bolts that holds the wooden spreaders to their wooden mast. The super quick thinking of the crew saved the mast, but they could only sail under jib alone for the rest of the upwind legs, making their fourth place all the more impressive. Fortunately, the bolt was quickly replaced once back on the mooring, so they will sail again tomorrow.
For Mauricio Sanchez-Bella the improved conditions were most welcome, "First of all it was the first day with a nice wind and perfect conditions, so we're very happy to race in these conditions. Particularly for us, we came from second to last, to having a third place and a second place. I am very happy to have the two Spanish boats ahead in the last race, so a perfect day, I'm very happy. "
Open Division Race by Race
Race two for the Opens was to be Duclop's from the off, but behind her there were plenty of place changes. At the end of the first run Aera was in second with Momo II third, Jane Ann fourth, Rainer Müller's Sting skippered by Raigh North fifth and Eau Vive sixth. By the second weather mark Aera was still just holding off Momo II, with Eau Vive now up into fourth and Jane Ann fifth. But on the final run, despite their best efforts, Aera could not hold off Momo II who slid past them to take second with Aera third, Eau Vive fourth and Jane Ann fifth.
In race three both Sting and Henrick Andersin's Oiva were called over the line and had to restart. Momo II made a lovely start towards the pin end of the line and led Aera around the first lap with Duclop third, Eau Vive fourth and Jane Ann fifth as they rounded the leeward gate. On the second lap Momo II began to pull out her lead, winning the race from Aera by some 25 seconds. Behind them Eau Vive took third with Jane Ann fourth. The battle for fifth place went right down to the line with Duclop just surging forward to take fifth from Junior with Eugenio Galdon Brugarolas's Maybe XIV a very close seventh.
Jamie Hilton of Eau Vive summed up his feelings saying, "It was a great day of racing. The breeze was a little bit more than we expected. We're still figuring out the boat, but the guys on Momo, Aera and Duclop just don't leave a lot of room for many mistakes. I don't think we made any big mistakes, they were just a bit better than us today. Especially Momo who are going really well."
Two days of racing remain, with five races being required to validate the championships. Once six races have been sailed the single discard will come into play, with a maximum of eight races being scheduled. The forecast for the penultimate day promises a southerly breeze but with potential for rain and thunder at times, so another tricky day for competitors and Race Committee alike. A change to the schedule has been published to bring the start of racing on Thursday and Friday forward to 10.30 and to allow up to three races to be sailed on Thursday.
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Provisional Results after Day 3: (top five, 3 races)
Classic Championship
1. ESP16 - Bribon - Real Club Nautico Sanxenxo - 3, 1, 1 = 5pts
2. USA56 - Jill - Alessandro Maria Rinaldi - 1, 4, 6 = 11pts
3. USA171 - Flapper - Thomas Kuhmann - 6, 4, 3 = 13pts
4. ESP72 - Titia - Mauricio Sanchez-Bella - 11, 3, 2 = 16pts
5. USA43 - Sprig - Greg Stewart - 5, 5, 6 = 16pts
Open Championship
1. SUI144 - Momo II - Deiter Schoen - 2, 2, 1 = 5pts
2. IVB145 - Eau Vive - Rainer Müller/Jamie Hilton - 1, 4, 3 = 8pts
3. SUI127 - Aera - Foti Lykiardopulo - 4, 3, 2 = 9pts
4. SUI100 - Duclop - Laurence Clerc/Eric Monnin - 8, 1, 5 = 14pts
5. USA105 - Jane Ann - Basil Vasiliou - 6, 5,4 = 15pts
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