A gentle breeze and sunshine got the new Melges 15 fleet off to the perfect start on Dublin Bay on Wednesday. With sailors still working out settings, tensions, and even basic rigging, a nice soft breeze was just what the doctor ordered.

Four windward-leeward races were completed, with former All-American sailors Scotia Ryer and Mike Huang putting down an early marker for the season with three race wins.

As always, good starts and clean air makes the rest of the race easy! Rian Geraghty-McDonnell and Katie Sheehy took the other race win.

The new Irish Melges 15 class sailors at the Royal St. George Yacht Club after the first night's racing on Dublin Bay 

The three father-son combinations sailing locked out the middle of the fleet show that family ties aren’t always the strongest.

Despite the light wind, the top speed recorded on the night was 10,6 knots, and the fleet look forward to testing the boat in more typical Bay breezes.

As Afloat reported in January, the Melges 15 dinghy is a new double-handed dinghy taking the US by storm that has its first European fleet on Dublin Bay. John Sheehy of the Royal Saint George Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour leads the class launch.

There was great excitement at Dun Laoghaire Harbour as the new Dublin Bay Melges 15 fleet arrived via container from Portugal this week. 

The fleet of 12 was unpacked and sorted with boats heading to different clubs on the bay.

Racing will start next Wednesday night, and details of trial days will be announced shortly, new class captain and promoter John Sheehy told Afloat.

The Melges 15 dinghy, is a new double-handed dinghy that has been successful in the US and launches in Europe this summer, with its first European fleet set for Dublin Bay as Afloat reported here in January.

A few boats are still available for sale, and all enquiries can be sent to the class captain, [email protected]

With the final boat nearing completion and a shipping date set, excitement is building for the arrival of a container of 12 Melges 15 dinghies into Dublin Port.

The boats, built in Porto, Portugal are due to be loaded up into a container next week with an expected arrival in the Bay in mid-May.

There is a great mix of owners from keelboat sailors, team racers, Laser sailors, Etchells sailors, and sportsboat sailors.

The first international Melges 15 fleet - you can have any colour you want as long as it's white.  Part of the 12-boat Irish fleet is lined up at the builders in Porto, Portugal

As Afloat previously reported, racing is planned on Wednesday nights mid-week, with the occasional racing on Friday nights and Sundays.

Everyone is looking forward to fast and fun sailing and to, of course, sailing the boat after quite a few months of anticipation!

Plans are in place for Demo days as the initial founding group look to grow the fleet.

A full container of 12 boats will ship, with, as of now, a few unspoken for, so reach out to John Sheehy ([email protected]) if you’d like to know more about the launch pricing.

Below is a sailor’s review of the new Melges 15 design in this vid from the class's American Midwinters Championship – let’s hope Dublin Bay delivers the same sunshine.

To celebrate the launch of the Melges 15 dinghy into Dublin Bay, Melges is offering a free launching trolley and special introductory pricing to customers who place orders in March. The first container of boats is due in May.

Dun Laoghaire Harbour sailor John Sheehy, of the Royal St George, who is leading the new class, told Afloat, “This promotion, on top of the existing launch pricing, is a really, really competitive price for a new boat. We’re really excited to sail the boat now and watch the fleet grow. I think it’s a boat that works for everyone and I look forward to seeing a diverse set of teams compete and have fun on the Bay. “

Sheehy hopes to see similar racing like this vid below in the Bay.

As Afloat reported previously, the Melges 15 dinghy is due to launch in Europe this summer, with its first European fleet set for Dublin Bay

For full pricing and further information contact: [email protected]

The Melges 15, a new double-handed dinghy, will launch in Europe this summer, with its first European fleet set for Dublin Bay. The drive for the new class is being led by John Sheehy of the Royal Saint George, who hosts a Zoom call about the class this Tuesday.

Eddie Cox of Melges, who has led the Melges15 from testing to launch, will join the zoom to give details about the boat and answer any questions.

John Sheehy (left) of the Royal Saint George Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour who is leading the Melges15 class launch in Ireland with Eddie Cox of Melges Performance Sailcraft at the Boot Dusseldorf exhibition in January 2023

Sheehy tells Afloat: “In the zoom, I will give some more information as to my plans for the class and details of the launch pricing and then introduce Melges on to the call to answer questions about the boat, describe the design process, detail plans to launch the boat in Europe and describe how the class has gone in clubs across America. While I will be talking about launching the class in Dublin Bay, please feel free to jump on Zoom if generally interested in the boat; all welcome.”

Zoom details

Topic: John's M15 Meeting
Time: Feb 7, 2023, 8:30 pm Dublin

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86235568862?pwd=REd6TmtveGtBUk5SUlhJNTRFSks3QT09

Meeting ID: 862 3556 8862
Passcode: 076954

The Melges 15 dinghy, a new double-handed dinghy taking the US by storm, is due to launch in Europe this summer, with its first European fleet set for Dublin Bay. Leading the class launch is John Sheehy of the Royal Saint George Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, who writes here about the new arrival to Irish shores this May

For some time, I have been looking at a class which could provide great local racing in a new modern design which was fast, strictly one design and easily accessible across ages & weights. I wanted a boat where I would be able to race with old college friends, take my kids out for a sail, go for a blast on windy days and, importantly, race against teams of all ages and weights. With little free time, everything had to be easy and accessible and running costs needed to be low. When I saw the Melges15, I thought this was the boat I had been looking for.

The Melges 15 is capable of reaching close to 20 knots

The M15 won Sailing boat of the year in 2022 and has been Melges's best-selling design. With over 600 boats already built, they have quickly established strong fleets wherever they have been established. Hitting close to 20 knots in a double-handed dinghy with big fleets seemed fun!

With over 600 boats already built, the Melges 15 has quickly established strong fleets in the USA

After contacting US friends who have sailed the boat as well as Irish college sailors who sailed the boats on J1s, I was determined to find out more. A call to Melges, put me on to Eddie Cox, who is in charge of the M15. He explained the concept of the boat; how they were looking to make a fast fun boat for everyone, deliberately keeping it simple to reduce costs but to also make the boat easier to sail. They themselves were caught out by the demand, with their European builder having to ship boats across the Atlantic to reduce deliver times for their US order book.

John Sheehy (left) of the Royal Saint George Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour who is leading the Melges15 class launch in Ireland with Eddie Cox of Melges Performance Sailcraft at January 2023's Boot Dusseldorf exhibition in Germany

With a very competitive launch price and a firm commitment to support the launch of the class I decided to see if I could build momentum for a new fleet.

While reaching out to my sailing friends, it became clear that many others were looking for a boat like the M15. We now have a commitment for eight boats and are looking to fill the first container of 12 before shipping. Encouragingly we have a great mix of orders, the cruiser racer sailor who wishes to sail a dinghy with his kids, the laser sailors who want to blast around with a buddy, the ex-college team racers, the returning dinghy sailors and so on.

The provisional plan is to provide racing on a Wednesday night in the Bay, which enables those sailors who already race on Tuesdays and Thursdays to double up and sail two classes. We will look to organise sailing on alternate Friday nights and Sunday mornings. The emphasis will always be on fun and participation.

The first container of 12 Melges 15s is due into Dublin in May

In the States, events have been won by combined crews from 125kg to 160kg and ages racing in the class range from 15 to 65. Most boats are mixed crews.

The first container of 12 boats is due in May, with eight pre-sold. If you would like to know more about the boats, I will run a zoom call next Tuesday, 7th February, at 20:30. Please email me at [email protected], and I will share the details, everyone welcome.

Check out the video below showing a recent event

Also attached is a PDF with more information