6 Metre
The International Six Metre class is a class of classic racing yachts. Sixes are a construction class, meaning that the boats are not identical but are all designed to meet specific measurement formula, in this case International rule. At their heyday, Sixes were the most important international yacht racing class, and they are still raced around the world. "Six metre" in class name does not, somewhat confusingly, refer to length of the boat, but product of the formula; 6mR boats are, on average, 10–11 metres long.
 Class symbol | |
 French Mac Miche – gold medalist at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. | |
| Development | |
|---|---|
| Year | 1907 (rule design) |
| Design | Development class |
History
The International rule was set up in 1907 to replace numerous handicap systems which were often local, or at best national, and often also fairly simple, producing extreme boats which were fast but lightly constructed and impractical. The Six Metre class was not the smallest rating established under the rule, but was nonetheless the most popular, and they were chosen as an Olympic class in 1908. However, it was not until revision of the Rule in 1920 when the Sixes really became a popular international racing class. The 1920s and '30s were 'golden age' of the International Rule boats and Sixes were still the most popular class, attracting top sailors and designers to compete for prestigious trophies such as Scandinavian Gold Cup and Olympic medals.
Alexander Robertson & Sons produced a total of five 6-Metre yachts between 1921 and 1953. In 1937 their young naval architect David Boyd designed the sleek 6-Metre racing yacht Circe, which was described by many as the most successful racing yacht produced at the yard. Mr J. Herbert Thom, one of the Clyde's best helmsmen sailed the yacht with tremendous success in America in 1938 and brought back the Seawanhaka Cup, which was successfully defended in home waters the following year. In later years Circe represented Russia in the 1952 Summer Olympics.
However, Sixes were also criticized as having become too expensive and towards the end of the 1930s they became more so, making the class too exclusive, as under what is known as the Second International rule (1920–33) the yachts had gone from being less than 9.1 metres (30 ft) in overall length to being almost 12 metres (40 ft). By 1929, 5 Metre class was becoming more popular as a cheaper and smaller alternative for Sixes, but the final blow was creation of International 5.5 metre class in 1949. 5.5 m soon replaced 6mR as the premier international racing class, and after 1952 Helsinki Olympics Sixes were dropped from Olympic regattas. The Gold Cup was also transferred to 5.5 m class from 1953 onwards.
Despite this, the class continued to exist, and new boats were made utilising the newest contemporary technologies, although sparingly. During the 1980s, many old sailboat classes experienced revival of interest and Sixes were at the forefront of this development. The Class has undergone a renaissance which has continued to the day, with many old yachts restored or rebuilt to racing condition, and 6mR competition is once again thriving. Performance differences between classic and modern era Sixes are usually small and they can be raced together.
Events
Olympics
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World Cup
Year |
Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 Seattle |  Tom Blackaller |
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| 1975 Sandhamn |  Patric Fredell |
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| 1977 Marstrand | Pelle Pettersson |
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| 1979 Seattle | Pelle Pettersson |
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| 1981 Lake Constance | no champion decided | ||
| 1983 Newport Harbor[1] | Pelle Pettersson |
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| 1985 Cannes |  Philippe Dürr |
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| 1987 Oyster Bay |  Bruce Owen |
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| 1989 Marstrand | John Kostecki |
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| 1991 Torquay | Leif Carlsson |
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| 1993 Cannes |  Flavio Favini Toni Bassani |
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| 1995 Sandhamn | Carl-Gustav Piehl |
Jacob Wallenberg |
Thomas Lundqvist |
| 1997 Cannes | Bruce Owen Jonathan Howe Rob Lipsett Jonny Smallridge Guy Barron |
Mats Johansson |
Patric Fredell |
| 1999 Hanko | Bernard Haissly Nicolas Berthoud Christophe Megavand Jean Michel Pachoud Gerald Bechard |
 Tom Jungell Henrik Lundberg Jari Bremer Mikael Blom Abe Kaakinen |
 Dietrich Grünau Albert Batzill Eddy Eich Hannes Brochier Albert Diesch |
| 2003 St.-Tropez | Carl-Gustav Piehl |
Dietrich Grünau Albert Batzill |
John Michael Larsson |
| 2005 Sandhamn | Dietrich Grünau Albert Batzill Eddy Eich |
Ben Clothier |
Bernard Haissly |
| 2007 Cowes | Bernard Haissly |
Ben Clothier John Prentice |
Dietrich Grünau |
| 2009 Newport | Hugo Stenbeck |
Rob Gray |
Bob Cadranell |
| 2011 Helsinki |  Yann Marilley |
Patric Fredell |
Hugo Stenbeck |
| 2013 Flensburg | .svg.png){kind=small} Ross MacDonald Andrew Costa Steve Kinsey Timothy Vogel Tony Griffin |
Robert Smith John Pollard Nick Pearson Paul Smith Stephen Procter |
Albert Batzill Dietrich Grünau Albert Diensch Eddy Eich Hannes Brochier |
| 2015 La Trinité-sur-Mer | Yann Marilley Nicolas Berthoud Kaspar Schadegg Philippe Dürr Alexandre Nicole |
Hugo Stenbeck |
Steve Kinsey |
| 2017 Vancouver[2] | Philippe Durr |
Ben Mumford |
Andy Beadsworth |
Scandinavian Gold Cup
References
- Trimble, Nancy (October 1984). "One-Design Racing". Yachting. Ziff Davis. 156 (4): 70.
- "Sailwave results for 6mR World Championships at Royal Vancouver Yacht ClubSeptember 17–21, 2017English Bay, Vancouver Canada 2017". www.rvan.ca.
External links
- ISMA International Six Metre Association new website of the ISMA International Six Metre Association
- International Six Metre Association
- Metre Boat Index
- Book: The Six Metre - 100 Years of Racing, published on the centenary of the International Rule