(thin ACC design) leads to the weather mark yet again on the way to beating Italian America’s Cup challenger Il Moro (fat ACC design) off San Diego in 1992. Koch’s extravagant campaign was dominated by the science of which he is a true believer and the result was the first ‘correct’ solution to the ACC rule… which was later taken to the next level by Team New Zealand’s super-thin designs of 1995. Koch hired well and his recruitment of Buddy Melges as an appropriately mature and patient person – and not just a great yachtsman – to stand at his shoulder all through 1992 was the hook upon which the Cup win evolved
The Koch syndicate’s America3
desire. My focus is on our business here and the kids… Buddy Melges: There’s something to add to what Harry just said. He’ll probably get more thrill out of supplying a boat to somebody here at Cedar Lake Wisconsin and they go out and win when they haven’t won before. And you know we always pride ourselves on helping the customers. They have tuning pamphlets and things like that. Nowadays you don’t just take the boat and go and splash it. You go through everything, you set it up according to the book and the rest is up to you. After that the time in the ship comes out in the silverware. SH: So back to the business, who’s doing what here these days? Harry Melges III: Well, Buddy is pretty much retired now. He has his toyshop across town where he gets to work on his iceboat projects. Andy Burdick is now our president. He runs the office and drives sales. I spend most of my time down in the shop, hands-on helping to build boats. Then we have Andrew Low, production manager. The Melges 20, 24 and 32 are strong classes and we continue to support those. And all of our scow classes continue to be strong. The last couple of years sales have been really solid in those classes. This year, for example, we have already sold 19 E boats. The 14 is a new project for us and that will soon start to increase in volume. It’s good! SH: It’s a venerable brand and a lot of people around the world respect what this name means. And to have a footprint like that from Zenda Town Wisconsin is something that takes a lot of effort and
32 SEAHORSE
hard work and discipline. Talk a little about your plans for marketing the new boats…
Harry Melges III: With the 14 we’ll set up dealers around the world plus probably a builder in Europe and a builder in Asia. I think that boat will sell itself pretty quickly. The key is to get it in as many people’s hands as possible. Start throwing regattas… and parties (laughs). Buddy Melges: Build a strong organisation within the class so people can’t fuss with stuff. Don’t get into the situation that some classes are experiencing around the world, where people dick when they shouldn’t be dicking and oughta be driving. SH: Strict one-design is a good recipe for success, plus it’s owner-driver too, eh! Buddy Melges: True story. SH: Here you go, I’ve got three kids, three, four and seven years old. What advice do you have for guys that age so they fall in love with sailing, what might a seven-year- old or a four-year-old find cool? Harry Melges IV: For me it’s about keeping up the attention by having fun all the time. Then as you go on it will get more complicated with all the boat - handling and tactics and everything like that. And then there’s looking up to some- one. I’ve obviously got two great people to look up to in sailing… SH: Switching to the other end of the generations here, I’d love to understand, Buddy, what you think would be the best advice that you’ve been able to pass on to your boys… Not just about sailing but also about life. Buddy Melges: As I look at my own history in sailing, it’s taken me all around
the world, I’ve met all sorts of people from all walks of life. There’s a lot of people who are not millionaires who sail boats pretty darned well. So to enjoy people from all over the world and then be able to present a product to them as good as these boats are. That to me is the greatest thing that I can take to the box.
What my father started, what I brought along a little bit. We had some trouble with fires around here, in 1971, when a disgruntled employee had too many matches in his pocket. We got through that, then we transferred into fibreglass from wood construction. And now what Harry has done along with Andrew in building the line here in Zenda with the different class boats and raising perfor- mance levels. They got together and went for it; the best example is when Harry purchased our scow competitor Johnson Boatworks and a lot of people thought that quality would go back down. But in this case it turned around and quality went up to even higher standards than what had been seen before. I look back now and that is the biggest achievement that Harry has had so far within the company. To build a quality product and to build a workforce that can deliver that quality day in and day out. That’s tough, but he’s doing it. SH: What about the evolution of the E Scow, you always seem to come out with something a little better each year? Harry Melges III: Yeah, we’re always try- ing to make improvements wherever we can. The E Scow changed a lot with the A sail and bowsprit; that gave us the excuse to make a new deck mould. But you can still buy an older boat, do some upgrades
DANIEL FORSTER
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