Flying Tiger Leads Melges 15 East Coast Championships off Dun Laoghaire

21st June 2025

Afloat.ie Team

The Melges 15s are using the Vakaros race sense system for their East Coast Championships off Dun Laoghaire

Race Officer Barry O’Neill and team delivered four races in fabulous Dublin Bay conditions on the day of the Melges 15 East Coast Championships.

The event, being seen as a dry run before the Europeans at VDLR, gave sailors the chance to experience the intended race course area and use the Vakaros race sense technologies as part of a Euros build-up.

A strong showing of Dun Laoghaire boats, complemented by visitors from Ballyholme and Howth, saw 11 boats enjoy some great racing.

The onboard computer-based racesense system worked well with Race Officer O’Neill saying that “we’d have had to 'general' the first two starts without it.” With 3 boats over in race 1, the immediate OCS alert on the offending boats ensured a quick return to clear the start and keep racing.

Local Dun Laoghaire sailors led overnight, with perhaps the performance of the day coming from class debutant Ben Smyth (13), who, sailing with his father Nick, finished the day strongly with a 4th place.

With four races down and a good forecast for Sunday, sailors look forward to more racing tomorrow.

Race Results

You may need to scroll vertically and horizontally within the box to view the full results

Published in Melges 15

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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.

At a Glance - Melges 15 Specifications

LENGTH 15 ft
BEAM 5 ft 6 in
DRAFT 2 ft 7 in
HULL WEIGHT 230 lbs
SAIL AREA
MAIN 93.6 sq ft
JIB 39.8 sq ft
ASYMMETRICAL SPINNAKER 156 sq ft
CREW 2

At a Glance - Irish Melges 15 class calendar for 2026

April 18–19 – Western Championships, Lough Derg Yacht Club
May 23–24 – Eastern Championships, Royal Irish Yacht Club (as part of Dun Laoghaire Cup)
June 20–21 – Northern Championships, Howth Yacht Club
July 3–5 – European Championships, Riva del Garda, Italy
August 22–23 – Irish National Championships, Royal Irish Yacht Club, Dublin Bay
September 19–20 – Sprint Style Event, Royal St. George Yacht Club (16 races targeted)
Winter 2026/2027 – Additional frostbite racing (dates TBC)