International Six Metres make historic return to Seawanhaka Corinthian YC for World Championship
by Fiona Brown 22 May 2025 20:41 UTC
September 22-26, 2025
The International Six Metre fleet in action © SailingShots by Maria Muiña
Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club (SCYC) and the Six Metre Class have a long and illustrious history. Founded in 1871 and located on Oyster Bay, New York, SCYC is America's oldest yacht club and its association with the Sixes goes right back to the class's foundation in 1907.
The club last hosted a Six Metre World Championships in 1987 and so the class is excited to be returning to this very special venue for its 2025 Worlds from 22 to 26 September 2025.
Oyster Bay and Long Island Sound are renowned as some of the best sailing waters in the world and more than 30 Sixes from across the USA, Canada, Germany, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Spain, Greece and the United Kingdom will come together to race for the World Championship Trophies.
Competitors will include the defending Six Metre Classic World Champion, His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain, racing his beloved Bribon, the 1947 Arvid Laurin design which was built by Plym in Sweden. Having won three of the last four Classic World Championships, His Majesty will no doubt be keen to claim the trophy again.
In 2023 Jamie Hilton and his crew won the Open Division World Championship sailing Scoundrel. This year Jamie and his team will return to the fray, but this time racing a brand new boat, designed by Ian Howlett for the legendary Six Metre owner Rainer Müller. Currently nearing completion at Demon Yachts in the UK, this is Ian Howlett's first new Six in some years and is a direct descendent of his Battlecry and Soundrel designs, which have been so successful in recent years. Ian Howlett explains that the boat will only be completed just in time for the championship. "Around the turn of the new year the intended build time was foreshortened when the decision was made to take her to the 2025 Worlds in Seawanhaka. She will be sailed by the highly accomplished group, led by Jamie Hilton, who raced Scoundrel so effectively in 2023 at Cowes, and this group have also specified her deck layout, equipment and rig. Those contributing to the build at this end will do all we can to make things work out well for them, as racing a new and untried boat in a major regatta is always a considerable challenge. For me the pleasure and excitement of seeing a new Six take shape had almost been lost in the "Mists of Time" so above all Thank You to Rainer for making this possible."
Back in the class for their first World Championship since 2015 will be Matt Brooks and his stunning classic Lucie, a 1931 Clinton H Crane design which was built by Nevins for Briggs Cunningham, the famous America's Cup skipper. Lucie was launched into the heyday of Six Metre racing at SCYC and was shipped to the Solent as part of the US team for that year's British-American Cup team racing, which the US team won in four straight races.
"We're looking forward to returning Lucie to the starting line at a World Championship on her original home waters of Long Island Sound—Lucie was built at the Nevins yard in 1931 on City Island, New York. Hailing from the Bay Area and flying the St. Francis Yacht Club burgee, we have an experienced team including helmsman Craig Healy, and our philosophy is like the Oakland Raiders' Al Davis always said: 'Just win, baby!'" - Matt Brooks.
Such is the resurgence of interest in the Six Metre Class at the current time that there will be two brand new Sixes on the starting line for the worlds. Mr America's Cup himself Dennis Conner will participate aboard his new boat Ole Miss, a Javi Cela design launched in San Diego in late 2024. Ole Miss continues the recent trend of radical developments in the Modern Sixes, and it will be exciting to see her line up against the likes of Henrik Andersin's Oiva, the reigning Six Metre Open European Champion, which was designed by Allan Savolainen and built by Red Sky yachts, launching in October 2022, and of course the new Howlett boat.
Registration and measurement for the Championship starts on 17 September, on September 20 and 21 there will be warm up racing, and World Championships will run from 22 to 26 September, with a total of eight races scheduled. The club will also be hosting Six Metre regattas on 21-22 June, 19-20 July and 16-17 August for competitors who wish to familiarise themselves with the waters.
6metre.com