Nuvolari, was built in 1981 for Luca and who competed in this year’s Lipton
dominated the fleet with four first place
Tony Bassani in Italy, who now own Cup have been racing Sixes for several
finishes and a second. Eric has a sailing
the Wally Yacht Company. She came to decades, against some of the greats.
resume that continues the tradition
Seattle in the early 1980s and returned The class benefits today from the skills
of the great Six Metre skippers: two
to Europe to race in the World Cup in of skippers such as these being passed
Canadian America’s Cup challenges,
Cannes, France in 1985. Back in Seattle, on from generation to generation.
two Olympic games, including a
Sockeye has continued her racing career During the regatta, I witnessed some
bronze medal in the Star class, and
successfully, racking up three Lipton of the best boat and sail handling I
a Star Class world championship.
Cup victories and a North American have seen in any class. At windward
Second place was taken by Don Martin
Championship win. Sockeye, with a marks, spinnakers were set and genoas
on Saskia II. Bob Cadranell on Arunga
fiberglass hull, was one of the newest were doused within two or three boat
and Jim Metteer on Fokus III had an
boats in the Lipton Cup Regatta this lengths of the mark. Starts were fiercely
equal number of points, with Fokus III
year. The oldest boat in the regatta was contested, and the best skippers put
claiming third place on a tie-breaker.
Goose, a Sparkman & Stephens design many years of experience sailing Sixes
It seems as if new one-design
built of wood in 1938, now owned and in the tricky currents of Port Madison
racing classes emerge with increasing
skippered by Peter Hoffman. to their advantage.
frequency these days, sometimes
This Lipton Cup, one of several The winds were light and variable
with limited adoption and longevity.
around the U.S., was granted to the for the weekend of the regatta. On
I can think of one sport boat class that
Seattle Yacht Club as a perpetual Saturday, we finished three closely
gained sudden popularity in the Puget
endowment by Sir Thomas Lipton in matched races, but the fourth had to
area a couple of years ago that today
1912. Sir Thomas was the owner and be abandoned when the wind died.
rarely has a one-design start in regattas.
skipper of several British America’s Saturday night, Port Madison Yacht
Meanwhile, the International Six Metre
Cup challengers around the turn of the Club hosted a barbecue to celebrate the
class has endured for more than 100
twentieth century, and was the scion summer solstice, so I got to hear some
years, and continues to thrive.
of the Lipton Tea company. The local great stories about Six Metre racing. The
Lipton Cup trophy, crafted in 1913 by stories got better as the rum flowed.
Dennis Palmer is an avid racer, cruiser,
London silversmiths Mosley, Flowers Sunday, the wind held for two
professional sailing instructor and 50 Ton
& Co., is larger than the America’s Cup solid races. First place overall for the
Master who has been sailing in the Puget
trophy and is on display at Seattle Yacht 2009 Lipton Cup Regatta went to
Sound area for most of his life.
Club’s Portage Bay main station. Eric Jespersen aboard Gallant, who
I’ve raced on many classes of boats,
but nothing compares to racing in a
Six. They are about 37 feet long, with a
beam of only six feet, so they look like a
needle piercing the water. They displace
a bit under 10,000 pounds, and most
have semi-full keels with tiny, attached
rudders and some have trim tabs.
They don’t exactly spin on a dime, so
maneuvering for starts and tight mark
roundings gets very interesting. Yes,
there was some boat-to-boat contact
during the regatta. These are upwind
machines, tacking through only 75° in
smooth water with a nice breeze. They
have flush decks with a tiny cockpit cut
out of the deck. The crew stands inside
the hull, so deep inside the boat that
the deck hits the crew at chest height.
As the boat heels over while sailing
upwind, your eye is at sea level when
you are standing straight up. Winch
grinding and trimming is done from
below deck.
What do Paul Cayard, John
Kostecki, Ted Turner, Tom Blackaller,
Malin Burnham, Olin Stephens II, King
Olav V and King Harald of Norway
have in common? They have all been Six
Metre skippers. Some of the skippers
48° No r t h , Se p t e m b e r 2009 pa g e 53
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