(More than) busy
With new Melges IC37s
underpinning the world champagne market at the other end of the scale the
company’s little unballasted puppy is doing pretty well too...
Nearly everyone reading this will have sailed or raced a singlehanded dinghy, either as a youth, more recently as an adult, or both. The pure joy of being in complete control of your own craft speeding effortlessly across the water and the direct feedback it brings to the senses is indescribable and keeps us forever attached to this sport. So it may come as a surprise that, with this genre being crowded with so many designs over the decades, there could still be space left for innovation – yet Melges Performance Sailboats has done just that with the Melges 14, which is now under consideration as a new Olympic singlehanded dinghy.
Similar to the excitement caused with the introduction of the Melges 24 two decades ago – a design that completely redefined the high- performance small keelboat marketplace and remains popular around the world – the Melges 14 may quite possibly do the same for all the same reasons. It takes a new and fresh approach to use of modern design tools, high-quality durable materials, fastidious fabrication standards and strict one-design class rules and management to create a brand new experience in the joy of singlehanded sailing.
Innovative design
When designing the next global singlehander for Melges,
68 SEAHORSE
Reichel/Pugh took a fresh look at the basics, just as Bruce Kirby did with the Laser nearly 50 years ago. How could boat performance be improved while remaining practical and versatile for a wide range of users, from juniors to adults? Can this design be robust to withstand years of use and abuse and still be competitive? Will it be attractive enough to lure the interest of newcomers, but also die-hard veterans of other classes? One look at the Melges 14 shows the results of this approach with the following features standing out right away: l Wide hull and side decks: this feature helps not only with the stability of the boat under sail, but also makes hiking an ergonomically efficient experience for all sizes and body types, rather than an athletic torture. The beamier design with a long waterline also helps reduce the inherent size advantages that taller sailors will have on narrower boats, making sailors across a broad range of sizes competitive in the Melges 14. This feature levels the playing field.
And the extension of the wide sidedecks fore and aft allows not only for variable body positioning according to wind conditions for the singlehanders, but also encourages two-kid doublehanded fun sailing. l Open transom: this reduces weight and lets water slide out the back
Above: with racing fleets now estab- lished on five continents, a global rank- ing system in place and the prospect of becoming an Olympic class, the future looks extremely bright for the brand new baby of the Melges range. Eight champi- onship-level regattas are planned for 2019: four in North
America and four in
Europe. The overall world champion will be crowned at the final
regatta of the Melges World League, on Lake Lanier, Georgia, in the autumn
without the need for bailers that jam and leak. It also makes beach launching and capsize recovery easier because there are no barriers and the cockpit floor is at water level so it’s easy to climb aboard. The open transom combined with plumb bow shape also gives this design a decidedly sleek and modern look when under way. l Excellent traction underfoot: the large cockpit has better traction than moulded non-skid due to the use of SeaDek flooring, a grippy and durable coating suitable for any footwear – or none at all. l Simple controls and deck layout: easy but effective and reachable by a free hand on both tacks, even while hiked. The centreboard box is positioned so that it’s easy to use as a footbrace while tacking or gybing and the auto-ratcheting mainsheet block ensures proper handgrip tension in both light and heavy air. The mainsheet traveller bridle being placed forward in the cockpit means it is less prone to wrap around the back of the boat, yet it can still handle the mainsheet loads to provide proper control of mast bend. l Carbon spars: greater strength and resilience from carbon fibre means the loads from the laminate spar are not lost in sail shape distortion. The spar’s lighter weight means less pitching and more righting moment to contribute to speed. The mast is in two pieces with a common base
MELGES/HANNAH LEE NOLL
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