Melges 14 Lake Geneva Challenge – A successful event

by Melges Performance Sailboats on 13 Jun 2017 It was one of those events you can never forget. Everyone left with the sense that they are early adopters of something big. The new fleet’s coming of age.

Sailors came from as far as Australia for the Melges 14 Lake Geneva Challenge. With huge breeze and abundant sunshine, it was the very definition of Champagne Conditions. Not a cloud in the sky. Melges Performance Sailboats and Lake Geneva Yacht Club co-hosted the event — Rolling out the red carpet for Melges 14 owners.

In the fleet’s second major regatta, Harry Melges IV won overall with low points. Melges, Brian Porter, Vincent Porter and Jeff Wong each had race wins. By fleet, Jared Plummer won Red, Melges won Blue, and Nels Curnow won Gold0.

Just two years after its introduction, the Melges 14 is emerging as a true high performance one-design racing boat. It is a modern singlehanded one-design, yet also has the ability to sail comfortably with two people. With its large cockpit and open transom, there’s never a need to bail. The new Melges boat won the coveted Boat of the Year seal from Sailing World as the 2016 Best Dinghy.

The new Melges 14 outperformed all expectations in the massive breeze on Lake Geneva. Everyone had a blast on the water — older gentlemen, smaller kids, Olympic campaigners and national champions alike.The boat features a flexible sail plan with three rigs, so all ages and all sizes can sail it.

Earlier this year, the Melges 14 Midwinter Championship was the first-ever major regatta for the fleet, drawing 25 sailors. After sailing the event Charlie Buckingham shared his thoughts on the boat: “The controls are very accessible; the cunningham, the outhaul and the vang are all right there. The boat really responds. When you hit a puff and you sheet in and hike, the boat jumps. The other boats I’ve sailed really don’t do that. It’s my first time feeling that sensation,” said Buckingham, “The boat is really fast. I would love to see the class grow.”

It’s done exactly that. This year the Melges Team launched the Melges 14 Tour, a national series of try-it-out demo days and regattas. The team has been traveling coast to coast with a trailer full of Melges 14s allowing anyone to test sail the new boat. Once sailors get their toes in the hiking straps and take it out for a sail, they can see why new fleets are spreading like wildfire. Melges 14s are on the water in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Central America.

High school sailors battled it out at the Melges 14 Stadium Sailing High School Challenge at Grosse Pointe Yacht Club as a part of the Melges 14 Tour. “I think the Melges 14 is really well designed. I love the self-draining cockpit, which lets you focus on sailing instead of constantly bailing the boat. They’re super fast boats, and they’re just extremely fun to sail,” said Jacob Mackey, a senior at Detroit Country Day School.

And it’s just the start of many good things to come for the Melges 14 fleet.

Melges 14 Lake Geneva Challenge from Melges Performance Sailboats on Vimeo.

Top three results
Final – After seven races

Gold Rig

1.) Nels Curnow
2.) RJ Porter
3.) Brian Porter

Blue Rig

1.) Harry Melges IV
2.) Kyle Navin
3.) Peter Stephinson

Red Rig

1.) Jared Plummer
2.) Dave Weddige
3.) Victor Larimer