The Melges 24 is the hottest one-design sailboat on the market today. Be the first one in your club to own one of these sailboats.

 


 

 

MELGES 24—ANATOMY OF A DECKPLAN


Author Federico Valenti is one of Italy's best sailors with numerous regatta wins around the world. He has raced in the Sardinia and Admiral's Cups and crewed aboard Flavio Favini’s Blue Moon to win the 2001 Melges 24 Worlds. He is the indispensable translator of Harken's Italian catalog. Check out Federico's "anatomy of the deck plan" along with his tips on how to improve your sailing performance.

 

 

 

Melges 24 Australian Sailing Review

 

General Information on the M24

 

Designed by Reichel/Pugh, its professionally engineered, high-tech stance includes a carbon fiber spar, rudder, bowsprit and vertical keel fin. Another key component of the M24™ is a 670 sq ft asymmetrical spinnaker that lifts and pulls the boat forward on a downwind sprint. It adds speed, simplicity and ease of handling giving way to a more challenging tactical race. That’s built-in performance! This get-up-and-go sport boat package has the ability to facilitate trailering, hoist and ramp launching. With a retractable keel designed specifically for traveling, it fits behind any vehicle and hitch on a custom, galvanized-steel Melges Performance Sailboats trailer with fiberglass bunks. The Melges 24 possesses an easy to rig personality requiring only two sets of hands for a quick set-up. Weighing in at a healthy 1,783 pounds, this streamlined baby is a pleasure to haul from your local club to a World Championship.To date, over 600 boats are sailed competitively around the world. Half of the entire fleet exists in the United States while the remaining national classes are spread out over 18 European and Asian countries proving that it demands an international audience.

For generations, the Melges family has enjoyed the pure pleasure and thrill of racing sailboats. Ever since Harry C. Melges, Sr. built his first scow out of northern cedar in 1943, the Melges family has been committed to building the finest boats, sails, spars, covers and all other types of sailing equipment. From 1945 on the Melges company has been building many different types of boats, but in 1993 after winning the America's Cup Buddy and sons Harry and Hans began a whole new era with the Melges 24.

The Melges 24 which was designed by Reichel/Pugh after the 1992 Cup features many America's cup innovations. The use of carbon fiber, vertical carbon keel fin with lead bulb, a kelp cutter installed for kelp clearance, carbon spar, rudder and bow sprit. Although these innovations are on the cutting edge for production sailboats it just makes the boat that much more enjoyable for the weekend racer.

 

Setting up the Melges 24

The Melges 24 is quick and simple to set up for just two people. The carbon fiber spar is just 62 pounds fully rigged and is deck stepped in minutes. The custom Melges mast step allows the sailor to just put the base into the step, lock in and walk up. After connecting the roller furler jib, the boom and the boom vang you are virtually ready to go sailing. It takes a practiced couple just 25 minutes to fully rig this boat.

 


Sailing the Melges 24

Simple is the key word here. The boat is very stable with its minimum weight aloft and maximum weight down below. The carbon keel fin weighs just 35 pounds while it supports a lead bulb of 630 pounds five feet below. This makes for a comfortable sail in all conditions.

No winches! No winches are needed upwind or downwind on this 24 foot boat. This makes your crew happy. With the class jib of 126 sq. ft. you never worry about difficult trimming.

You sail with either 2-5 people total. Typical one-design sailors race with 4 people in total weighing no more than 793 pounds as there is a racing weight limit. Certainly, you can enjoy daysailing the boat with just two people and as many as 6 people with the Melges 24's 12 foot cockpit.


Downwind sailing in your Melges 24 is the most fun! With the carbon bow sprit you can easily set and hoist your Melges asymmetrical with limited crew work and zero foredeck work. Once you have your asymmetrical set you are able to sail high angles for speed or low angles for comfort. Gybing is as easy as 1-2-3. Just ease your current sheet, gybe the boat, trim your new sheet to fill the asymmetrical. Viola, you are on your new gybe.


The Melges 24 is designed to facilitate trailering, hoist launching and ramp launching. The boat has a retractable keel for trailering purposes. Thus, when the boat is on the trailer the deck is just chest high. It fits right behind any vehicle with any size trailer hitch. The Melges 24 weighs just 1,750 pounds so going down the highway is free and easy.

The custom Melges trailer is steel galvanized and features high-quality fiberglass bunks. No question, the very best trailering package for any sailboat consumer.

The Melges 24 is the hottest one-design sailboat on the market today. Be the first one in your neighborhood to own one of these sailboats.

 

TRAILERING
The Melges 24 is specifically designed for easy road trailing, hoist and ramp launching. The boat has a retractable keel for trailing purposes, thus when the boat is on the trailer the deck is just chest high. It fits right behind any vehicle with any size trailer hitch. The Melges 24 weighs just 795 kilos (1,783 lbs.) making it a pleasure to hall from your local club to a World Championship.

MAINTENANCE
Euan Seel, boatbuilder, surveyor & Melges 24 production and quality control consultant, gives a few helpful suggestions to keep your Melges 24 hull in top condition. The Melges hull and deck glasswork is made with high quality materials and with care should last for years. Here are a few tips to help keep your boat in good shape & hopefully maintain its resale value.
HULL CLEANING
Always make sure you wash the hull and deck and clean the muck line off around the waterline. This is either oil/diesel or discoloration from the water and gets harder to remove with time. The staining can be removed with a good quality boat wax or non-abrasive hull cleaner. NEVER use an abrasive cleaner, unless that is that you like a matte finish to your hull & deck. It is always advisable to keep you hull and the smooth surfaces of the deck well waxed. This helps to protect the gel coat from ultra violet rays and staining, which can in time degrade the gel coat, making it powdery, so if you don't have a hull cover keep you boat waxed.
sge
TRAILER BUNKS
Another area that can cause problems is the covering on your trailer bunks. Make sure they are well covered with a good quality carpet, not a hard nylon carpet as this can damage the gel coat surface. Whenever possible wash and dry the carpet to remove salt, sand and any foreign objects which could scratch the gel. Leaving the hull sitting on wet bunks can cause blistering in the gel, so it is important to dry the carpet. A non-absorbent plastic or rubber foam makes a very good bunk covering that will not absorb water, will cushion the hull and if laid in strips will allow air to get between the hull and the bunks & dry it out. It is also easier to put on than carpet. One thing to watch for when using any solvent based adhesive is to make sure that the gel coat does not come into contact with the solvent laden carpet too soon. Give the carpet time to breathe before you load the trailer or cover the bunks with polythene to protect the hull.
sge
GEL COAT DAMAGE
Any damage to the gel surface, any scratches, crazes or chips should be covered if there is a chance that moisture can get to the glass lay-up. The easiest way to keep water out is to put plastic tape over any damage or put some plastic filler in the damaged area. It won't stop the moisture but it will slow it down.
sge
VENTILATION
As with any boat try to ventilate the hull as much as possible. Drying out the inside will keep the boat down to weight, make it smell a whole lot less and help reduce the risk of the inside laminate absorbing water. One point to keep in mind is that fresh water is more likely to cause osmosis than salt water due to smaller molecules, so wash the boat out but make sure you dry it out afterwards.
sge
RUDDER
If you use a rudder bag make sure you wash and dry the blade before you put it into the bag and make sure that the bag is dry inside. The rudders are carbon fibre and epoxy painted but contact with moisture can cause blistering and it will help reduce staining from the stainless fittings. Check the bolts fastening the rudder straps and tighten if necessary, they do work loose. It’s worth using Loctite on them. Undo the bolts one at a time so you do not let the fittings move.
sge
KELP CUTTER
Whilst you are cleaning and washing the hull, give the keel bulb & fin a good soaking and try to wash any sand or dirt away from around the top nylon. Wash out the kelp cutter tube and housing in the lead bulb when the boat is on dry land. There is a nasty mixture of carbon, stainless steel and salt water in the blade housing and a few crews have pulled up their kelp cutter and the blade has corroded and broken off the shaft.

 

Click here to register your interest and recieve a pricing brochure

 

Click here to order your Melges 24

This is a PDF file you will require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file

 

 

Pics

 

 

Event Schedule click here

  

Melges Australia
www.melges.com.au
sales@melges.com.au