Left: Buddy in his scow towing Harken CEO Bill Goggins… the missing finger is the result of Buddy losing a tussle with a band saw. Above: with Peter Harken on the Lake Geneva ice getting ready to climb aboard for a race in their 100mph E-Skeeters – a class in which there is no such thing as a small accident. And driving Bill Koch’s America3
to win the America’s Cup at a canter in San Diego in 1992
staring at it and mumbling, ‘It’s just slow.’ There was nothing visible I or anyone else could see, but suddenly he walks to the starboard end of the runner plank and gives the runner blade a good kick. No careful measuring for Buddy, no nothing. ‘That should do it,’ he said confidently and went out and won both afternoon races. We were astounded and I asked him how he knew the problem? A typical Buddyism: ‘The boat was slow, it needed a kick!’ After the Nite, Buddy and Bill Mattison (the iceboat legend)
convinced me to build and race the much bigger and much faster E-Skeeters. Early on I rolled the boat almost 90° coming into the finish (my front steering runner fell into a crack). As I was hanging on, trapped in the cockpit, I heard Buddy yell, ‘Hey, Harken – they go faster if you keep your smokestack vertical instead of horizontal.’ At another Skeeter regatta there was one competitor who was
always on port-tack and not giving way to starboard-tack boats… Several times Buddy had to alter course drastically to avoid him. After two or three races of this Buddy went up to the port-tacker and told him, ‘Enough, dammit! If you ever do that again I’m going to T-bone you!’ (Skeeters go up to 100mph, so T-boning is not a minor matter). Anyway, the port-tacker did and so did Buddy, wiping out our ‘friend’s’ starboard runner and chewing up and spitting out the end of his plank. I was there. We all got quiet. Mess with him once, mess with him twice, but three times, naahh, you lose! Buddy had eagle eyes. He could see farther than anyone. At one
regatta he and I were sitting on my E-Skeeter plank waiting for the wind so we could line up for a start. As we looked up the lake he said, ‘See those snowflakes up by the windward mark? They just changed direction, the right’s now favoured.’ Ya, sure, Buddy could see them, no one else could. But he was right, the right paid off. And so onto some soft-water Buddyisms. When the sports
in this weather again.’ The rest of us quickly went quiet. The com- plainer was finished and the weather was never brought up again. Buddy loved dogs and duck hunting. He spent the fall at his cabin
reporters at the Star Worlds in San Francisco in 1978 asked Buddy what his tactics were after he won the regatta, all he said was ‘Get in front at the start and then extend your lead’. That was it, nothing else. Nevertheless, ask him as a wannabe champion and Buddy would go out of his way to help anyone who asked for his advice to make a boat faster. So long as they were polite about it! Almost 10 year later I was on Buddy’s America’s Cup 12 Metre
‘
while training in Vancouver, BC. In not so nice winter weather he was getting a bit frustrated with the amount of time the ‘boys’ were looking down at the instruments rather than sailing. Finally, he let go and yelled, ‘Hey, girls, get your heads outta the boat and let nature present itself!’ (Buddy was never keen on instruments) Another weather-related incident happened during the same
period of training in Vancouver. One of the crew, who thought he was being helpful and speaking for all, came up to his skipper: ‘Buddy, I don’t think we should be sailing in this weather.’ Buddy looked him in the eye and said, ‘You are right. Youwon’t be sailing
in Canada with his Labradors, ducks and nature. I had a 45lb lab/ cocker mutt named Mac. Mac lived with me for 17 years and became a legend in our sailing world, not for all good doggy things but for all things sailors should not do! Buddy and Mac became great friends. I always let Mac run free so he became known as the Regatta Dog at events. He would happily roam the boatpark visiting crews and when they looked away eat their sandwiches. Buddy would pick Mac up and drive around the site with him in the pas- senger seat, hanging out of the window, looking all innocent. After a tour visiting customers Buddy would drive up to our boat with a big grin, ‘Anyone here know this dog? He owes a few lunches…’ q
If you are a sailor in the Midwest, you all have a Buddy Melges story. Though, not unlike Woodstock, if all the people who claim to have met Buddy actually did, the numbers would not be possible – Chris Shining
Buddy was the greatest ever. I first met him sailing FDs in the 1960s, and it was at the first mark during the Tokyo 1964 Olympics when his rudder exploded. I gave him my spare rudder, and while I never won anything at the Games, my rudder won bronze. His All-Star crew Bill Bentsen rewrote the Racing Rules of Sailing, making them only to stop collisions. I asked Buddy what he thought of the new rules… ‘When you are in first place you only have to
know where the next mark is’ – Paul Henderson (ex-CEO, World Sailing)
There are times in life when we realise how lucky we are. Having had the opportunity to race Buddy and Bill Bentsen on occasion was one such time. Putting back into sailing came naturally, offering advice to anyone in need, young or old. His enthusiasm for all that held his interest was a privilege to observe, be it ice boating, duck hunting or sailboat racing. It had to be done to the best of his ability and then some more. Thank you, Buddy, for showing us how to get the best out of life – Keith Musto
Zenda is not the end of the world, but you can see it from here – Buddy Melges (1930-2023)
Seahorse magazine and our associate raceboatsonly brokerage site are both at:
seahorsemagazine.com The editor is contactable by email at:
andrew@seahorse.co.uk
SEAHORSE 11
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