After five enjoyable days of racing off Cascais, the Six Metre European Championship ended at the weekend with a spectacular final in the eighth and last race. Only two points had separated Patrick de Barros' front runner "Seljm", John Harald Ornergerb's "Scoundrel One" steered by Vasco Pereira and Dieter Schön's "Momo" on the morning of the final day. In view of the close three-way battle, the title remained open until the last finish of the favourites.
The "Momo" team got off to a great start when it really mattered. "It was the best start of the week," says Markus Wieser, who admits that he had also "messed up starts" beforehand. In addition, the crew had lost a protest and was unable to achieve a compelling position until the final day. But then everything worked out in the last race. Even the competition helped ...
With an irresistible start and help from the competition to victory
The newest boat in the fleet led the field at the first mark. But that alone would not have been enough for the "Momo" team to finish successfully. Dieter Schön, tactician Markus Wieser and their team still had to put at least one boat between themselves and "Seljm" to take the title. The signs were good for this, as "Scoundrel One" rounded the mark in fifth position, with "Seljm" right behind. The "Momo" crew's task for the rest of the race was to sail fast and hope for the best.
The "Momo" quintet confidently extended their lead, but the "Seljm" crew also battled and made up ground on every section. As the boats set their sights on the finish line, the spectators also cheered on their compatriot Patrick de Barros and his crew, who were closing in on the leading boats at an impressive downwind speed. "Momo" won the race with a commanding lead of one and a half minutes.
A thrilling chase and a close call
"Seljm" sailed an excellent last run, but it was Stephan Lindberg's "Jane Ann" that secured the decisive second place. Jeremy Thorpe's "Battlecry", Jan Eckert's "Ginkgo Too" and "Seljm" surfed bow to bow towards the line behind them. The last-minute race to catch up gave "Seljm" a millimetre lead over the two rivals at the finish line and tied on points with "Momo".
However, because the "Momo" crew had one more race win to their name, the European Championship title in the open six-metre division also went to Dieter Schön and his team after the World Championship title. "Seljm" took silver. "Scoundrel One" crossed the finish line in seventh place. That was enough for third place on the podium. Click here for the results in the open and classic divisions.
Dieter Schön's winning boat "Momo": designed by Judel/Vrolijk, built by Wilke
Dieter Schön's new "Momo" was only launched at the beginning of this year. With owner and helmsman Dieter Schön, tactician Markus Wieser, Dirk De Ridder, Ross Halcrow and Victor Marino Prieto, their team is very experienced in working together. With their fourth regatta win in a row, the international crew has already made its mark on the class. The team has been sailing together in 5.5s and maxis for several years. They have won the Maxi 72 World Championship twice. "Momo" is a boat designed by Judel/Vrolijk and built by Wilke in Switzerland. Their team got off to the ideal start at the beginning of the year with their World Championship victory off Cascais.
The renewed victory in this territory was hard-fought. Dieter Schön said at the award ceremony at the host Club Naval de Cascais: "I would like to thank Patrick de Barros and 'Scoundrel One' for a great fight this week. I would like to thank the club for the great work and the great sailing. And I would like to thank my crew: we are a good team and we did it again."
A royal winner in the classic division
In the second, classic division, "Bribon 500" with Canadian helmsman Ross Macdonald, Alejandro Abascal, Alberto Viejo, Eduardo Marin and Roi Alvarez was already crowned European Champion 2022 one race before the end. Just like Catalin Trandafir's "Essentia" as European runner-up. The winning boat was designed by Arvid Laurin in 1947 and built by Plym in Neglinge, Sweden, for Harry Nystrom, who named it "Gallant". Laurin was considered a radical designer in his day and only created three sixes: Sinkadus (1939), Gallant (1947) and Trickson VI (1948).
Old King Juan Carlos sailed the legendary boat under the name "Bribon" to victory at the Classic World Championships in 2017 and 2018. With Pedro Campos at the helm, she also won the 2021 Classic Europeans and the 2022 Classic Worlds, making the "Bribon 500" one of the most successful classic six-metre boats of all time. The next international championship for the class will be the 2023 Six Metre World Championship, which will be hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron and the British Six Metre Association in the historic British America's Cup area off Cowes from 31 August to 8 September 2023.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
