Howth's O'Connor and Byrne are Melges 15 National Champions

26th August 2024

Darragh O'Connor and Brian (Teddy) Byrne were the winners of the 2024 Melges 15 National championships held at Howth Yacht Club on Saturday Credit: Afloat

Darragh O'Connor and Brian (Teddy) Byrne were the winners of the 2024 Melges 15 National championships held at Howth Yacht Club at the weekend.

After four great races on Saturday, the 19-boat fleet kept fingers and toes crossed for sailing on Sunday, but with gusts of up to 30 knots and a difficult sea state, racing was abandoned for the day.

A 19-boat fleet gathered for the inaugural at Howth for the Melges 15 Championships Photo: Afloat

This year's event was superbly pulled together by Cormac Farrelly of the host club, who led the event team well, delivering long, close, fun sailing to the competitors.

A strong breeze greeted the fleet for the 19-boat fleet for Saturday's four races using new Race Management technology, RaceSense Photo: Afloat

The event was also the first event in Ireland to run new Race Management technology, RaceSense, which, in essence, is an operating system for racing that pairs to the Vakaros GPS devices on all boats. Four races were started and finished with the system with the technology adoption welcomed by the fleet.

Matthew Cotter and Conor Twohig of Howth YC launch their spinnaker for a breezy downwind leg with transom cameras ready to capture the action (below) Photos: Afloat

Matthew Cotter and Conor Twohig of Howth YC launch their spinnaker for a breezy downwind leg with transon cameras ready to capture the actio

Saturday's four races were three-round Windward-Leeward courses delivered in winds of 14-19 knots. Race lengths were, on average, 40 minutes, giving sailors plenty of time to improve their positions on the track. Data off the units showed that, on average, each boat covered over 50km over the day, with top speeds recorded of 17+ knots. No wonder everyone was tired after returning to the shore late Saturday afternoon.

The Melges 15 championship leeward mark was located close to Ireland's Eye Photo: Afloat

Saturday evening saw the event dinner and AGM, with members welcoming Theo Lyttle, who remained as class President. Events were discussed for next year, with a consensus that the Irish South Coasts 2025 will be held in Cascais over Easter. The Irish Armada is keen to return to the Portuguese coast for some warm-weather sailing and Portuguese cuisine.

Scotia Ryer and Mike Huang lead the fleet downwind and (below) upwind Photo: Afloat

Sunday morning saw PRO Richard Kissane assess the conditions afloat but it was not to be. This pause in sailing gave everyone time to appreciate the spectacular drone footage and photos taken by top Portuguese drone photographer Goncalo de Melo.

John and Katie Sheehy of the Royal St. George YC finished second overall at the Melges 15 Nationals Photo: Afloat

Mike and Andrew Evans of Howth YC finished third overall at the Melges 15 Nationals Photo: Afloat

After a 19-boat event with crews racing from 13 to 60 years of age, the Melges 15 sailors are already looking forward to next season, with strong rumours of more boats arriving as this new class of Irish sailing continues to expand.

Race Results

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Published in Melges 15, Howth YC

Published in Melges 15

Tagged under

Melges 15

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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.