2026 International Six Metre Europeans at Société Nautique de Genève - Day 3
by International Six Metre Association 21 Jul 16:33 BST
19-24 July 2026
Mecara takes the lead in the Classics, while Eau Vive stays on top in the Open fleet
A hard-fought win in today's single race at the 2026 International Six Metre European Championships at the Société Nautique de Genève on Lake Geneva has seen Reinhard Suhner's SUI45 Mecara take the lead in the Classic Championship. Meanwhile, in the Open Championship, a second place for Jamie Hilton's SUI144 Eau Vive was enough to maintain the top spot on the leaderboard.
A solid 9-10 knot northerly breeze was blowing this morning at start time, prompting the race team to set a slightly longer course than on previous days. However, the pressure began to fall as the Open fleet closed on the first windward mark, and continued to drop away over the remainder of the four-lap race.
Dieter Schön's IVB145 Momo made the most sense of the first beat to round in first, ahead of Loic Forestier's SUI77 Junior in second, and Eric Monnin's SUI100 Duclop in third. Monnin was the first of the leaders to gybe onto port on the exit from the offset mark, but could make no inroads into the two frontrunners on the first downwind leg.
After following Momo and Junior around the first leeward gate, and with the breeze having dropped below six knots now, the Duclop crew put in a short tack up towards the middle of the course, before tacking back to set up in a windward position compared to the leaders. It was a move that triggered a beat where, according to skipper Monnin, "everything went perfectly". At the second windward mark, the Duclop crew was ahead and went on to protect that lead to the finish.
"The key to that win was the second windward leg," Monnin commented afterwards. "It's not often in sailing that you have a leg when you can say that you could not have done anything better. So all credit goes to my team. The trim was perfect. The tactics calls were perfect. We were good and focused. Everything went exactly how we wanted it - and, of course, we had the luck we needed also."
With three races left to sail in the European Championships, Duclop sits in second, just one point behind the series leader, Jamie Hilton's SUI144 Eau Vive - who today fought their way from fourth at the first mark to second at the finish - and five points ahead of third-placed Momo.
Monnin said he and his crew were happy to be in the hunt, and glad to be the ones doing the hunting, rather than being hunted.
"It's a good position to be in, for sure," he said. "But soon the discard will come in, and there are lots of boats who can still win this championship. Who it will be is not easy to predict."
In the Classic Championship, Reinhard Suhner's SUI45 Mecara also did a good job on the tricky second beat, overtaking both His Majesty King Juan Carlos I of Spain's ESP16 Bribon and first-lap-leader Violeta Alvarez on GBR57 Erica, to take control of the race for the final downwind leg. At the finish it was Mecara, followed by Erica, and then Bribon.
Mecara's victory - their second in this regatta - elevated them to first overall, tied on 16 points with Erica. Sitting in third overall after five races, after finishing third today, is Bribon.
Asked if he was feeling any extra pressure from leading the Classic Championship at this stage, Suhner said no.
"We are not nervous at all," he said. "We had a bad first day with not such good starts, because we were too defensive. But now we are back to normal. And I guess we can try to put pressure on the others."
Racing at the International Six Metre European Championships at the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) on Lake Geneva continues tomorrow, Wednesday, July 21 and runs through until Friday, July 24.
Tomorrow evening, the competitors will assemble for the European Championships Gala Dinner at the SNG, at which the original painting by French marine artist Marc Berthier, featured in the official event poster, will be auctioned off by International Six Metre President, Louis Heckly. Proceeds from the auction will go to the International Six Metre Archive.
More information on the event can be found at the official regatta website.