View source for 6 Metre

{{More footnotes needed|date=January 2009}}
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| image = 1912 mac miche.PNG
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| caption = French ''Mac Miche'' – gold medalist at the [[Sailing at the 1912 Summer Olympics – 6 metre class|1912 Summer Olympics]] in Stockholm
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| class_image = 6 Metre insigna.png
| class_imagealt = Class symbol
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| design = Development class
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| year = 1907 (rule design)
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The '''International Six Metre class''' is a class of [[Classic Yacht|classic]] racing [[yachts]]. Sixes are a ''[[construction class]]'', meaning that the boats are not identical but are all designed to meet specific measurement formula, in this case [[International Rule (sailing)|International rule]]. At their heyday, Sixes were the most important international yacht racing class, and they are still raced around the world. "Six metre" in class name does not, somewhat confusingly, refer to length of the boat, but product of the formula; 6mR boats are, on average, 10–11 metres long.

== History ==
[[File:1912 Nurdug II.JPG|thumb|Danish ''Nurdug II''. Silver medalist [[Sailing at the 1912 Summer Olympics – 6 metre class|at the 1912 Summer Olympics]] in Stockholm.]]
The [[International Rule (sailing)|International rule]] was set up in 1907 to replace numerous handicap systems which were often local, or at best national, and often also fairly simple, producing extreme boats which were fast but lightly constructed and impractical. The Six Metre class was not the smallest rating established under the rule, but was nonetheless the most popular, and they were chosen as an Olympic class in [[Sailing at the 1908 Summer Olympics|1908]]. However, it was not until revision of the Rule in 1920 when the Sixes really became a popular international racing class. The 1920s and '30s were 'golden age' of the International Rule boats and Sixes were still the most popular class, attracting top sailors and designers to compete for prestigious trophies such as [[Scandinavian Gold Cup]] and Olympic medals.

[[Alexander Robertson & Sons]] produced a total of five Six Metre yachts between 1921 and 1953. In 1937 their young naval architect David Boyd designed the sleek Six Metre racing yacht ''Circe'', which was described by many as the most successful racing yacht produced at the yard. Mr J. Herbert Thom, one of the Clyde's best helmsmen sailed the yacht with tremendous success in America in 1938 and brought back the Seawanhaka Cup, which was successfully defended in home waters the following year. In later years ''Circe'' represented Russia in the 1952 Summer Olympics.

However, Six Metres were criticized as having become too expensive and towards the end of the 1930s they became more so, making the class too exclusive.  Under what is known as the Second International rule (1920–33) the yachts had gone from being less than {{convert|30|ft|order=flip}} in overall length to being almost {{convert|40|ft|order=flip}}. By 1929, the [[5 metre (keelboat)|5 Metre class]] was becoming more popular as a cheaper and smaller alternative for Sixes, but the final blow was creation of the [[5.5 Metre|International 5.5 Metre class]] in 1949. The 5.5&nbsp;Metres soon replaced the Six Metres as the premier international racing class, and after the [[Sailing at the 1952 Summer Olympics|1952 Helsinki Olympics]] Sixes were dropped from Olympic regattas. [[Scandinavian Gold Cup|The Gold Cup]] was also transferred to the 5.5&nbsp;m class from 1953 onwards.

Despite this, the class continued to exist, and new boats were made utilising the newest contemporary technologies, although sparingly. During the 1980s, many old sailboat classes experienced revival of interest and Sixes were at the forefront of this development. The Class has undergone a renaissance which has continued to this day, with many old yachts restored or rebuilt to racing condition. Six Metre competition is thriving once again with active fleets in Europe, North America and Scandinavia. Performance differences between classic and modern era Sixes are usually small and they can be raced together.

In 2019 the International Six Metre Association launched an online [https://6metrearchive.org/ archive website], allowing researchers around the world to access historical information about the class.

==Events==
===Olympics===
{| {{MedalistTable|type=Games}}
|-
| [[Sailing at the 1908 Summer Olympics|1908 London]]<br>{{detailslink|Sailing at the 1908 Summer Olympics – 6 Metre}}
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|GBR|1908 Summer}}<br>[[Gilbert Laws (sailor)|Gilbert Laws]]<br>[[Thomas McMeekin]]<br>[[Charles Crichton (sailor)|Charles Crichton]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|BEL|1908 Summer}}<br>[[Léon Huybrechts]]<br>[[Louis Huybrechts]]<br>[[Henri Weewauters]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|FRA|1908 Summer}}<br>[[Henri Arthus]]<br>[[Louis Potheau]]<br>[[Pierre Rabot]]
|-
| [[Sailing at the 1912 Summer Olympics|1912 Stockholm]]<br>{{detailslink|Sailing at the 1912 Summer Olympics – 6 Metre}} 
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|FRA|1912 Summer}}<br>[[Gaston Thubé]]<br>[[Amédée Thubé]]<br>[[Jacques Thubé]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|DEN|1912 Summer}}<br>[[Hans Meulengracht-Madsen]]<br>[[Steen Herschend]]<br>[[Sven Thomsen]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|SWE|1912 Summer}}<br>[[Eric Sandberg]]<br>[[Otto Aust]]<br>[[Harald Sandberg (sailor)|Harald Sandberg]]
|-
| [[Sailing at the 1920 Summer Olympics|1920 Antwerp]]<br>1907 rule<br>{{detailslink|Sailing at the 1920 Summer Olympics – 6 Metre}} 
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|BEL|1920 Summer}}<br>[[Émile Cornellie]]<br>[[Frédéric Bruynseels]]<br>[[Florimond Cornellie]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|NOR|1920 Summer}}<br>[[Einar Torgersen]]<br>[[Leif Erichsen]]<br>[[Andreas Knudsen]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|NOR|1920 Summer}}<br>[[Henrik Agersborg]]<br>[[Einar Berntsen]]<br>[[Trygve Pedersen]]
|-
| [[Sailing at the 1920 Summer Olympics|1920 Antwerp]]<br>1919 rule<br>{{detailslink|Sailing at the 1920 Summer Olympics – 6 Metre}} 
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|NOR|1920 Summer}}<br>[[Andreas Brecke]]<br>[[Paal Kaasen]]<br>[[Ingolf Rød]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|BEL|1920 Summer}}<br>[[Léon Huybrechts]]<br>[[Charles Van Den Bussche]]<br>[[John Klotz]] 
| ''no further competitors''
|-
| [[Sailing at the 1924 Summer Olympics|1924 Paris]]<br>{{detailslink|Sailing at the 1924 Summer Olympics – 6 Metre}} 
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|NOR|1924 Summer}}<br>[[Anders Lundgren]]<br>[[Christopher Dahl (sailor)|Christopher Dahl]]<br>[[Eugen Lunde]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|DEN|1924 Summer}}<br>[[Vilhelm Vett]]<br>[[Knud Degn]]<br>[[Christian Nielsen (Danish sailor)|Christian Nielsen]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|NED|1924 Summer}}<br>[[Johan Carp]]<br>[[Anthonij Guépin]]<br>[[Jan Vreede]]
|-
| [[Sailing at the 1928 Summer Olympics|1928 Amsterdam]]<br>{{detailslink|Sailing at the 1928 Summer Olympics – 6 Metre}} 
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|NOR|1928 Summer}}<br>[[Johan Anker]]<br>[[Erik Anker]]<br>[[Håkon Bryhn]]<br>[[Olav V of Norway|Crown Prince Olav]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|DEN|1928 Summer}}<br>[[Vilhelm Vett]]<br>[[Aage Høy-Petersen]]<br>[[Niels Otto Møller]]<br>[[Peter Schlütter]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|EST|1928 Summer}}<br>[[Nikolai Vekšin]]<br>[[Andreas Faehlmann]]<br>[[Georg Faehlmann]]<br>[[Eberhard Vogdt]]<br>[[William von Wirén]]
|-
| [[Sailing at the 1932 Summer Olympics|1932 Los Angeles]]<br>{{detailslink|Sailing at the 1932 Summer Olympics – 6 Metre}} 
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|SWE|1932 Summer}}<br>[[Tore Holm]]<br>[[Olle Åkerlund]]<br>[[Åke Bergqvist]]<br>[[Martin Hindorff]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|USA|1932 Summer}}<br>[[Robert Carlson (sailor)|Robert Carlson]]<br>[[Temple Ashbrook]]<br>[[Frederic Conant]]<br>[[Emmett Davis (sailor)|Emmett Davis]]<br>[[Donald Wills Douglas, Jr.|Donald Douglas]]<br>[[Charles Smith (sailor)|Charles Smith]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|CAN|1932 Summer}}<br>[[Philip Rogers (sailor)|Philip Rogers]]<br>[[Gardner Boultbee]]<br>[[Ken Glass]]<br>[[Jerry Wilson (sailor)|Jerry Wilson]]
|-
| [[Sailing at the 1936 Summer Olympics|1936 Berlin]]<br>{{detailslink|Sailing at the 1936 Summer Olympics – 6 Metre}} 
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|GBR|1936 Summer}}<br>[[Christopher Boardman]]<br>[[Miles Bellville]]<br>[[Russell Harmer]]<br>[[Charles Leaf]]<br>[[Leonard Martin]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|NOR|1936 Summer}}<br>[[Magnus Konow]]<br>[[Karsten Konow]]<br>[[Fredrik Meyer]]<br>[[Vaadjuv Nyqvist]]<br>[[Alf Tveten]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|SWE|1936 Summer}}<br>[[Sven Salén]]<br>[[Lennart Ekdahl]]<br>[[Martin Hindorff]]<br>[[Torsten Lord]]<br>[[Dagmar Salén]]
|-
| [[Sailing at the 1948 Summer Olympics|1948 London]]<br>{{detailslink|Sailing at the 1948 Summer Olympics – 6 Metre}} 
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|USA|1948 Summer}}<br>[[Herman Whiton]]<br>[[Alfred Loomis (sailor)|Alfred Loomis]]<br>[[Michael Mooney (sailor)|Michael Mooney]]<br>[[James Smith (sailor)|James Smith]]<br>[[James Weekes]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|ARG|1948 Summer}}<br>[[Enrique Sieburger, Sr.]]<br>[[Emilio Homps]]<br>[[Rodolfo Rivademar]]<br>[[Rufino Rodríguez de la Torre]]<br>[[Enrique Sieburger, Jr.]]<br>[[Julio Sieburger]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|SWE|1948 Summer}}<br>[[Tore Holm]]<br>[[Carl Robert Ameln]]<br>[[Martin Hindorff]]<br>[[Torsten Lord]]<br>[[Gösta Salén]]
|-
| [[Sailing at the 1952 Summer Olympics|1952 Helsinki]]<br>{{detailslink|Sailing at the 1952 Summer Olympics – 6 Metre}} 
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|USA|1952 Summer}}<br>[[Herman Whiton]]<br>[[Everard Endt]]<br>[[John Morgan (sailor)|John Morgan]]<br>[[Eric Ridder]]<br>[[Julian Roosevelt]]<br>[[Emelyn Whiton]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|NOR|1952 Summer}}<br>[[Finn Ferner]]<br>[[Tor Arneberg]]<br>[[Johan Ferner]]<br>[[Erik Heiberg]]<br>[[Carl Mortensen (sailor)|Carl Mortensen]]
|valign=top| {{flagIOC|FIN|1952 Summer}}<br>[[Ernst Westerlund]]<br>[[Ragnar Jansson]]<br>[[Jonas Konto]]<br>[[Rolf Turkka]]<br>[[Paul Sjöberg]]
|}

===World Cup===
{{main|6 Metre World Cup}}
{{6 Metre World Cup medallists}}

===Scandinavian Gold Cup===
{{further|Scandinavian Gold Cup}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.6metre.com/ ISMA International Six Metre Association] new website of the ISMA International Six Metre Association
*[https://6metrearchive.org International Six Metre Archive]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070607132010/http://www.6metre.ch/ International Six Metre Association]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071102153816/http://www.6mr.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Boat_Index Metre Boat Index]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081029014104/http://www.theyachtingstudio.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_DVDs___Books_101.html Book: The Six Metre - 100 Years of Racing, published on the centenary of the International Rule]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz2m0s3XuVU Sailing Anarchy: Sailboat tour of a 6 meter "Sprig" (video)]

{{Olympic class sailboats}}
{{Classes of the International Sailing Federation}}

[[Category:Classes of World Sailing|6 Metre]]
[[Category:Keelboats]]
[[Category:Olympic sailing classes]]
[[Category:6 Metre]]
[[Category:Development sailing classes]]