Excitement Builds as New Dublin Bay Melges 15 Dinghy Fleet to Ship Next Week

19th April 2023

The first sails for the new Melges 15 fleet are unfurled. The newest dinghy design is expected to be sailing on Dublin Bay in mid-May

With the final boat nearing completion and a shipping date set, excitement is building for the arrival of a container of 12 Melges 15 dinghies into Dublin Port.

The boats, built in Porto, Portugal are due to be loaded up into a container next week with an expected arrival in the Bay in mid-May.

There is a great mix of owners from keelboat sailors, team racers, Laser sailors, Etchells sailors, and sportsboat sailors.

The first international Melges 15 fleet - you can have any colour you want as long as it's white. Part of the 12-boat Irish fleet is lined up at the builders in Porto, Portugal

As Afloat previously reported, racing is planned on Wednesday nights mid-week, with the occasional racing on Friday nights and Sundays.

Everyone is looking forward to fast and fun sailing and to, of course, sailing the boat after quite a few months of anticipation!

Plans are in place for Demo days as the initial founding group look to grow the fleet.

A full container of 12 boats will ship, with, as of now, a few unspoken for, so reach out to John Sheehy ([email protected]) if you’d like to know more about the launch pricing.

Below is a sailor’s review of the new Melges 15 design in this vid from the class's American Midwinters Championship – let’s hope Dublin Bay delivers the same sunshine.

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About the Melges 15 Dinghy

The Melges 15 was designed by Reichel/Pugh and built by Melges.

The design prioritises stability, comfort, ease of use, and performance.

The Melges 15 is built to be sailed by everyone from friends and couples to families and kids. The design offers performance, comfort, and stability in one sleek package.

The Melges 15’s stable hull shape and ergonomic cockpit make it a suitable layout for adult racing and educational sailing. Easy conversion from a club configuration (non-spinnaker) to a one-design setup, provides more versatility to club programs and options for individual owners.

“The Melges 15 creates a clear pathway for junior sailors to get started and stay excited about sailing while also being comfortable and accessible enough for adults to learn, race, or cross-train,” according to Harry Melges III.

With the main design goals focused on stability and performance in various conditions, the boat features a narrow overall beam and a flat cross-section shape for stability, righting moment, and ease of planing. For a more forgiving feel upwind and to navigate larger sea states, the Melges 15 has just the right amount of fore and aft rocker.

Melges conducted extensive research and product testing to produce this layout factoring in cockpit depth, backbone height, and floor plan. The result, they say, is a comfortable environment for both the skipper and crew. The deeper cockpit takes the load off the sailor’s knees helping them feel locked into the boat while the high boom and gnav vang system work together to make the boat easier to manoeuvre.

The asymmetric spinnaker offers an additional performance element, while the single-pull launch and retrieval system makes handling the sail easy and fast.