Melges 15 Fleet Debuts At Inland Irish Championship Event

17th April 2026

Afloat.ie Team

Inland Shift — Melges 15 crews line up on Lough Derg for their first inland Irish championship, with close racing expected among family teams and new partnerships at LDYC this weekend Credit: Afloat

The Melges 15 class will stage its first inland event in Ireland this weekend at Lough Derg Yacht Club.

A fleet of 14 boats is entered for the inaugural Western Championships, marking the class’s first regatta outside Dublin.

Half the fleet will travel from Howth Yacht Club, with additional entries from Royal St George Yacht Club, National Yacht Club and Royal Irish Yacht Club. Class president Jamie Tingle will represent Royal Cork Yacht Club.

The entry list includes eight family crews and several new partnerships. Jack Fahy and Henry Higgins, Andrew Fowler and Cian Lynch, and Tim Norwood and Becky Lowney are expected to contend near the front.

Racing is likely to be close. Many crews have team racing experience, raising the prospect of tight starts and competitive mark roundings.

Cormac Farrelly is among the notable entries. He arrives after taking line honours in Howth’s Round the Island Race and will sail with local 420 sailor Sam Clifton.

Race Officer Tom McGrath is scheduled to run eight races across the weekend. Racing will use the Vakaros RaceSense system adopted by the class.

Sailing on Saturday is expected to conclude at 16:00. Demonstration sails will follow for Lough Derg Yacht Club members interested in the 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)