Fahy and Hyland Win Melges 15 Eastern Championships

24th May 2026

Afloat.ie Team

Winning Pair — Jack Fahy and Adam Hyland celebrate with their trophies after winning the Melges 15 Eastern Championships and overall Dun Laoghaire Cup honours

Jack Fahy and Adam Hyland claimed the Melges 15 Eastern Championships title at the weekend with a dominant performance on Dublin Bay. The pair also secured overall honours in the Royal Irish Dun Laoghaire Cup as the best-performing boat of the regatta.

Strong recoveries after difficult starts and consistent fleet management proved decisive across six races sailed in steady sea breeze conditions.

Competitors faced a tactical challenge throughout the weekend between securing a clean start and protecting the favoured right-hand side of the course. Paddy Oliver and Diane Nelson of Northern Raiders delivered one of the most consistent performances in the fleet. Regularly among the leaders at the top mark, they finished second overall after a winter training programme.

Mike Huang and Scotia Ryer bounced back from a disappointing third race to win the opening two races on Sunday. Their downwind speed proved difficult for the rest of the fleet to match.

Newcomers Dan Moran and Kohanna Tanaka also impressed on their first outing in the class. The pairing finished strongly against a fleet which included several experienced “Centurion” teams.

Race officer Michael Tyrell and his race management team, supported by Toby Hudson Fowler from the Melges 15 class, completed six races over the weekend using the Vakaros RaceSense system. The final race produced some of the fastest sailing of the regatta as an unexpected 18-knot breeze swept down from Dalkey Island. Teams recorded speeds of more than 16 knots on the final downwind leg.

The Melges 15 fleet now turns its attention to the Northern Championships at Howth Yacht Club on June 20-21.

Published in Melges 15, Royal Irish Yacht Club, Dublin Bay

Published in 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)