The big day is about to arrive: Melges 24 World Championship ready to race in Habror Springs
by International Melges 24 Class Association 21 Sep 16:17 PDT
19-26 September 2026
Practice Race - Melges 24 World Championship 2026 - Harbor Springs, MI, USA © U.S. Melges 24 Class Association
It's Harbor Springs, Michigan. It's the eve of the Melges 24 World Championship.
The preparations are complete, the Opening Ceremony has officially welcomed the international fleet, the practice race is in the books, and tomorrow the battle for the 2026 Melges 24 World Championship titles begins on Little Traverse Bay.
Two full days of registration and inspections kept Little Traverse Yacht Club (LTYC) and Irish Boat Shop buzzing. Boats went through the complete inspection process, every sail was checked and stamped, teams finalized registration and, of course, collected their Worlds swag and goodies - souvenirs that will travel home with them after what promises to be a memorable week in Harbor Springs.
A huge thank you goes to Irish Boat Shop for providing excellent facilities for the measurement and inspection process, and to the many amazing volunteers whose work has helped everything run smoothly while giving the visiting teams a warm Harbor Springs welcome.
The 2026 Melges 24 World Championship is officially open
On Sunday evening, the focus shifted from preparation to celebration as the teams gathered at Little Traverse Yacht Club for the Opening Ceremony. The national anthems of the four nations represented at this year's World Championship - the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Norway - were played before the sailors were officially welcomed to Harbor Springs.
Taking the stage were LTYC Commodore Dunne Saal, Regatta Chairman Tom Meier, Melges Performance Sailboats owner Cate Mueller-Terhune, International Melges 24 Class Association President Duncan Stamper, US Melges 24 Class President Geoff Fargo, and George Peet, US Melges 24 Class Midwest District Governor, LTYC Vice Commodore and regatta host.
"To the sailors and teams who have travelled from all parts of the US, Canada, Great Britain and Norway: welcome. We are proud to have you here, and we hope you enjoy not only the competition, but also the hospitality of our club and our community," said Regatta Chairman Tom Meier.
"And to our sponsors and supporters, thank you for believing in this championship and helping us create an event worthy of the competitors who have come here."
"Most of all, I hope that this championship will create lasting memories - on the racecourse, at the yacht club, and among the friendships that are formed ashore. May the racing be fair, the competition be fierce, and the sportsmanship be exceptional."
With those words, Meier officially opened the 2026 Melges 24 World Championship.
The evening also gave one Corinthian team an extra reason to celebrate. In recognition of the Corinthian fleet, Quantum Sails offered a special prize: a V4 spinnaker raffled exclusively among the Corinthian entries during the Opening Ceremony.
The lucky ticket belonged to local team Huzzah USA491, led by Aaron Elder and Seamus Wilmot, giving the home team an especially memorable start to Worlds week.
From there, the evening continued in true Melges 24 fashion - plenty of smiles, old friendships renewed, new ones made, and the familiar camaraderie of the international Melges 24 family filling the clubhouse.
Practice complete - Now it gets real
Monday morning brought everyone back to business. The Practice Race Briefing provided teams with their final information ahead of racing, with updates from Regatta Chairman Tom Meier, Principal Race Officer Mark Foster, International Jury Chairman Martin Clasen, Technical Committee Chairman and IM24CA Chief Measurer Branko Parunov, and IM24CA Championship Coordinator Americas Carol Ewing.
Then it was out onto Little Traverse Bay.
Practically perfect practice racing greeted the Melges 24 fleet, with a fresh east-northeasterly breeze, plenty of shifts and fast downwind sailing providing one final opportunity to test speed, tune boats and sharpen maneuvers before the results begin to count.
For RJ Porter of Full Throttle, the conditions offered an enticing taste of what Little Traverse Bay can deliver. "Today was the opening day of the Worlds here in Harbor Springs. We had the practice race - not official racing yet - and it was just champagne conditions out there," said Porter.
"If it was like that every day, we'd be in for a real treat. It was blowing about 10 to 18 knots out of the east-northeast - big breeze, big planing downwind, super fun and big shifts. You had to get to an edge, but it was really good racing and a great shakedown. We're excited to get started tomorrow."
Not everyone found the racecourse straightforward, however. Cuyler Morris, owner and skipper of Dark Horse, pointed to the challenges created by the breeze coming across the shoreline and bluffs.
"It's a little bit different from the last time we were here," said Morris. "This time we have a pretty strong, cold wind coming from the north and off the bluffs. It's a little shiftier, and the conditions are challenging out there, both for the sailors and for the race committee."
Now, practice is over.
Racing will start tomorrow, opening the battle for one of the most coveted titles in international one-design sailing.
And there is no shortage of talent ready to fight for it.
Champions, experience and current form - Whom to watch in Harbor Springs
The Open division assembled in Harbor Springs brings together a remarkable combination of current form, deep Melges 24 experience and championship pedigree.
Former Melges 24 World Champions are not difficult to find around the docks this week. Some are racing, others are putting their experience to work as coaches, while numerous crew members across the fleet have been part of previous championship-winning campaigns.
Among those racing is Peter Duncan, the 2022 World Champion, aboard Shiitake; Stuart McNay, who helmed the 2016 World Champion Embarr, aboard Anthony Kotoun's Wah Gwan; and Brian Porter, the 2013 World Champion, aboard Full Throttle.
The coaching ranks add even more World Championship knowledge. Chris Larson, the 2009 Melges 24 World Champion, is coaching Shiitake!; Dave Ullman, the 2007 World Champion, is working with Sentinel; while Vince Brun, winner of the first two Melges 24 World Championships in 1998 and 1999, is coaching Dark Horse. And that is only part of the story.
Dark Horse - Back-to-back U.S. champions
Dark Horse, led by Cuyler Morris, arrives in Harbor Springs carrying one of the strongest recent records in the American Melges 24 fleet.
The team comes to the World Championship as the back-to-back U.S. National Champion, having successfully defended its title with Manu Weiller, Ripley Shelley, Mark Ivey and Alec Anderson in Traverse City in August. Add two-time Melges 24 World Champion Vince Brun to the campaign as coach, and Dark Horse combines current momentum with decades of championship experience.
The practice race has already shown Morris that Harbor Springs may present a very different puzzle from one day to the next. From Tuesday, solving it consistently will be what counts.
Full Throttle - A name woven into Melges 24 history
Few campaigns embody the history of American Melges 24 racing quite like Full Throttle.
Brian Porter is the 2013 Melges 24 World Champion and a ten-time Melges 24 U.S. National Champion, an extraordinary record spanning decades of racing at the highest level of the class.
In Harbor Springs, the family story continues with Brian joined by RJ Porter and Bri Porter, together with Matt Woodworth. The same core crew has already enjoyed major success together, bringing experience, continuity and an intimate knowledge of the Melges 24 into another World Championship campaign.
And judging by RJ Porter's description of Monday's "champagne conditions," Full Throttle is more than ready to get racing.
Shiitake - A world champion back for more
Shiitake brings another former World Champion to the starting line.
Peter Duncan won the Melges 24 World Championship in Fort Lauderdale in 2022 and followed that by finishing runner-up at the 2023 Worlds in Middelfart, Denmark. He now returns to the championship with a highly experienced Harbor Springs lineup of Greiner Hobbs, Will Ryan, Victor Diaz de Leon and Reed Baldridge.
Adding another layer of championship knowledge is coach Chris Larson, himself the 2009 Melges 24 World Champion and part of the team behind Duncan's successful 2022 campaign.
Mavi & Bora Gulari on his familiar waters
Mavi, led by Bora Gulari, is another campaign that has repeatedly made its presence felt during the 2026 season.
Gulari brings an impressive résumé well beyond the Melges 24, including two International Moth World Championship titles, and his Mavi campaign has become a regular presence at the front of the U.S. Melges 24 fleet. With Norman Berge, Kyle Navin, Nick Ford and Trevor Burd aboard in Harbor Springs, Mavi arrives with plenty of racing already under its belt this season, including competition against many of the same teams now lining up for the World Championship.
GAMECOCK - North American series champions
Gamecock arrives in Harbor Springs with a major recent title already attached to its résumé.
Peter McClennen and Gamecock won the 2025 Melges 24 North American Sailing Series, rewarding a campaign that has become a regular presence at the front of the North American fleet. McClennen is joined in Harbor Springs by Severin Gramm, Wilson Stout, Mike Marshall and Jeremy Wilmot, giving Gamecock an established team with plenty of recent racing behind it as the Worlds begin.
Flying Jenny - Experience and recent form
Flying Jenny, led by Sandy Askew, brings another established American Melges 24 campaign to Harbor Springs.
Askew has been competing in the class for years, and Flying Jenny arrives at the Worlds with recent form to match that experience. The team finished fourth at the 2026 U.S. Nationals, including a race victory in Traverse City. The same lineup of Robert Greenhalgh, Alexander Gough, Sean O'Rourke and Drew Barnes joins Askew for the Worlds, giving Flying Jenny continuity heading into the championship.
War Canoe - a long-running campaign with a brand-new weapon
War Canoe, led by Michael Goldfarb, brings years of Melges 24 campaigning on both sides of the Atlantic - but arrives in Harbor Springs with something very new.
WarCanoe USA876 is the newest boat in the 2026 Worlds fleet. Goldfarb's record in the class includes fourth overall at the 2019 Melges 24 World Championship, second at the 2017 North American Championship and victory at the 2019 U.S. National Championship. Now the long-running campaign starts its next chapter with the newest hull in the fleet and a formidable crew of Julia Mamen, Chris Grube, Nick Rogers and Alyosha Strum-Palerm.
Depth throughout the open fleet
And the list does not end there.
Sentinel, led by Geoff Fargo, the 2024 U.S. National Champion, has 2007 Melges 24 World Champion Dave Ullman adding his experience as coach.
On Wah Gwan, Stuart McNay brings first-hand knowledge of what it takes to win this championship after helming the 2016 World Champion Embarr.
And across the fleet are sailors with Olympic experience, world titles in other classes, professional sailing careers and countless miles of Melges 24 racing behind them.
The résumés are impressive. The history is extensive. But from Tuesday morning, none of it will matter without execution on Little Traverse Bay.
Three races are scheduled for the opening day of the 2026 Melges 24 World Championship in Harbor Springs, Michigan. The first warning signal will be displayed at 11.30 am.