Int'l Six Metre Class registered and ready to race in La Trinité

by Fiona Brown on 30 May 2015 Forty-two International Six Metres are now gathered at the the Société Nautique de La Trinité Sur Mer on the beautiful south coast of Brittany in preparation for the Société Nautique de Genève's highly prestigious Annual Regatta at Sea and the International Six Metre World Championship. The fleet will race in two divisions with 19 Moderns and 23 Classics competing.

With all the boats now registered, this evening the crews gathered at the regatta marquee for the Opening Address and Musto Welcome Cocktails. Boats have travelled from across Europe and North America to race and there is a fantastic buzz of anticipation in the air as the crews prepare to do battle.

This evening the teams were welcomed to La Trinité Sur Mer by the President of the Société Nautique La Trinité (SNT) Jean Poitou and the Mayor of La Trinite Jean-François Guezet. They highlighted the maritime traditions of the town and said how proud they are to welcome six Metres from across the globe for these very special events.

Tim Russell, the Secretary of the International Six Metre Association (ISMA), paid tribute to Jean-Pierre Blavec, the former President of SNT who was hugely instrumental in bringing the Sixes to La Trinité, but sadly died before he could see his vision realised. He also expressed the gratitude of the class to Stefan O'Reilly-Hyland, President of the French Six Metre Association, who has led the organisation of the regattas on the Class side, but sadly cannot be here to race his yacht due to injury. He also particularly thanked the seven teams who have travelled all the way from North America for the event.

Leading those North American teams is Matt Brooks, President of IMSA and owner of the Classic Six Metre Lucie. Matt concluded the formalities by thanking the regatta hosts, all the teams for attending, the generous sponsors and the many volunteers who make the regatta possible. He then assisted Cyrille Cremades of Musto in presenting each team with a goody bag of gifts before the Musto Cocktail Party was declared officially open.

Racing for the Société Nautique de Genève's Annual Regatta at Sea will commence tomorrow, Saturday 30 May and conclude on Sunday 31 May. Racing for the International Six Metre World Championship will get underway on Monday 1 June and the regatta concludes on Friday 5 June.