The International 6 meter class was founded, in 1906, the same year as the establishment of the International Rule, a mathematical formula used to design a number of sailboat classes. From 1906 to 1914, more than 300 of the sloops, ranging from 34 to 38 feet in length, were built as they appealed to consumers with, and without, deep pockets.
While over time the number of Sixes built grew to more than 1,200, today only about 350 of these yachts remain in existence worldwide.
“Coming from the drafting tables of some of the most prolific yacht designers in history — William Fife III, John G. Alden, Bill Luders, Tore Holm and Sparkman & Stephens — the class reached its zenith in the 1930s,” Bill Doyle, co-chairman for the event, said in a statement. “It was an Olympic class from 1908 through 1952 and had large fleets on Long Island Sound and in Europe, the largest in the U.K. With that kind of pedigree, a gathering of Sixes guarantees to be a showstopper.”