European Six-Man Championships: Monnin is the light-wind king; bronze for the Schön crew

What a visual and nautical treat this European Championship for the 6mR class was! Nearly 50 6mR boats and their crews gathered to determine the 2026 European champions. 31 competed in the Classic class, 18 in the Open class. The dedicated hosts from the Société Nautique de Genève – under whose banner Ernesto Bertarelli and Team Alinghi won the America’s Cup twice – provided a stunningly beautiful sailing area against a picture-perfect backdrop for this European championship.

European Six-Person Championships: A dream venue for light-wind enthusiasts

Only the wind left a little to be desired. “It was a series of extremely light winds,” reported the two-time 6mR world champion Markus Wieser. The race committee responded with the utmost flexibility, often sending the six-person crews out onto the lake early in the morning. “We were then able to start in ten-knot winds. But most of the time, the races ended with winds of just two or three knots,” said Wieser. This Sixes European Championship was one for light-wind specialists, patient sailors and fair-weather enthusiasts.

With a history dating back to 1907, the Sixers were once an Olympic sailing discipline from 1908 to 1952. They were also regularly used as test and development boats during the 12-metre era of the America’s Cup. It was not until the first World Championship in 1973 in Seattle, USA, that the class began holding World Championships. The modern Sixers were then introduced in the mid-1970s.

Thanks to the astute leadership of both the rule-making body and the International Class Association (ISMA), the Sixers have retained their status as an exciting regatta fleet with a global reach. Today, it combines the elegance of classic yachts with the cutting-edge design of the boats in the Open Division in a regatta calendar that takes participants to some of the most spectacular sailing venues around the globe.

The home team wins the open European Championship standings

The most recent evidence of this was the European Six-Man Championships on Lake Geneva, where the SailGP fleet will once again be making a spectacular appearance on 19 and 20 September. Germany’s first SailGP event victory, achieved here last year by Erik Kosegarten-Heil and his team, remains unforgettable. Even with just a slight breeze, Team Germany were a force to be reckoned with.

This week, however, it was the 6mR fleet that took centre stage at first. Dieter Schön (Yacht Club Costa Smeralda), tactician Markus Wieser and the ‘Momo’ crew – who had sailed to World Championship gold in 2022 and, with their new boat, again in 2025 – were also aiming for the top spot on the podium at the European Championships. But this time, it was the Swiss who claimed the top spot on home soil: Eric and Ute Monnin, Franck Narbonne, Geoffrey Jan and Cédric Galetto clearly dominated their home and training waters in the open division.

“They know every nook and cranny, know where the wind is coming from, and have simply sailed well here during this European Championship week,” said the defeated Markus Wieser, paying tribute to his rivals. With three race wins, four top-five finishes and a sixth-place result as their discard, match racing expert and helmsman Eric Monnin of the host club, the Société Nautique de Genève, and his team set the standard at this European Championship.

“Not entirely satisfied” with the European Championship bronze medal

With just two more points to their name in the six-boat European Championship, Jamie Hilton of the New York Yacht Club and his crew took silver in the open class. Bronze went to Dieter Schön’s “Momo” crew, comprising Markus Wieser, Eberhard Magg, Matti Paschen-Schauenburg and the Australian Torvar Mirsky. “Our starts were all very good, but we also made a few mistakes. The others were simply better here in such light winds. The Americans also had a good light-wind boat. We didn’t quite have the same boat speed as them,” said Markus Wieser, summing up the race.

We have won the World Cup last year. “Of course, you always want more.” Markus Wieser

The fields in both divisions were well-represented, said Markus Wieser. The fact that, in the Classic Division, the Spanish yacht “Bribon” from the Real Club Náutico de Sanxenxo swept the board was also in light of the World Championship gold medal won last year No great surprise. Ross MacDonald was not the first well-known Canadian from Vancouver to join the crew alongside Juan Carlos de Borbón.

Ross MacDonald was regarded as one of the best Star-class skippers of his generation; he had won Olympic silver in Athens in 2004 with Mike Wolf and added a bronze medal six years later with Eric Jespersen. In 1997/1998, he sailed the Whitbread Round the World Race on “Toshiba”. In the classic class, Violeta Alvarez (Royal Yacht Squadron) and her crew on “Erica” took silver, ahead of “Mecara” from the Bottighofen Sailing Club, helmed by the Swiss skipper Reinhard Suhner and his five-man crew. Click here to see the results.

The hosts had used this clip to promote the European Sixes Championship on Lake Geneva – and it left viewers wanting more: