Buoyed by this wave of interest in the class, a number of Six Metre enthusiasts from North America, mainly from the Seattle area, decided that action should be taken to sustain international competition. A group of friends including Bill Pain, George Stadel and Lou Kershaw among others pulled together their international contacts and drove the momentum behind setting up a new Association to oversee the class.

Tim Street, author of two books on the history of the Six Metres, explains that there were concerns over the class’s International status: “From the very start of the class in 1907, and indeed even up until 1970, there had been very little communication between the various national fleets.  Those fleets which did keep in touch with each other were Finland and Sweden, which regularly held joint international races; Britain and the US, with the British-American Trophy Team Races, and the US and Canada, on the Great Lakes and the West Coast…The most important and worrying matter leading up to the formation of ISMA at that time, was that the IYRU [International Yacht Racing Union] was proposing to drop the Six Metres as an international class, as they were considered to be obsolete.”

The Australian-American Cup of 1969 had demonstrated that, not only was there an appetite for international competition, but that the old boats were still able to draw a crowd. In June 1970, therefore, Bill Pain wrote “This is to declare that the International Six Metre Association has been founded.” And so, the organisation that still governs the class today was born.

The foundation of ISMA included eight fleets from around the world including Switzerland, Australia, Austria and Germany, Long Island Sound, Puget Sound, the Pacific North West, Sweden and Finland. It is also worth noting those fleets that were missing from the original group. Norway, Denmark, France and the UK had all had sailing Six Metres but none joined until some years later.

The heart of the organisation remained in the United States during the first few years. The first President was Werner Freyer and the Vice-President was Bill Pain. In order to maintain communication between the fleets the main task of ISMA became the collation of information on each national fleet, circulated in the first newsletter in July 1973. Running to seven pages, the newsletter itself indicates that its purpose was to help unite the worldwide Six Metres: “The present newsletter has been created on suggestion of Bill Pain, our Vice-President, who wanted to strengthen the contacts between Sixes in the world. The newsletter will be sent to 120 sixes in 9 countries.”

The most significant development in cementing the global network of Six Metres, however, must have been the inaugural World Cup. This was the first international Six Metre regatta for decades that invited competitors from every fleet worldwide. The regatta was held in Seattle and welcomed 20 boats from six countries. While the US and Canada made up over 50% of the fleet, there were also boats from Australia, Scotland, Sweden and Finland.