MELGES PERFORMANCE SAILBOATS

The leading, performance sailboat supplier has proudly delivered high quality boats around the world since 1945. Each Melges boat is built with pride and backed by an experienced, knowledgeable team.


We’ve spent three generations pushing these boats forward.

Across borders and language barriers,
past challenges, competitors, and
through rough waters.

We’ve pushed past what people thought was possible and into what they only could have imagined.

All because we know your boat takes you more places than just across the finish line.

So build your memories,
your skill,
and your passion.

Get out there. And push forward.

To build strong, profitable relationships with a broad spectrum of consumers and businesses. To promote the sport of sailing as a lifelong, family activity. We will deliver innovative, quality products and services that offer great value and friendly service, and will adhere to our core values of being fair, caring, human, dynamic and driven.

To be the world leader in performance sailing products and services.


THE MELGES TEAM

WE ARE PROUD OF OUR HISTORY

From Boat Maker to Icon

Since 1945, Melges has been at the forefront of sailing innovation. Although the company has evolved from humble beginnings as a wooden flat-bottom rowboat builder to the creators of the best hulls, sails, covers and accessories on the market, the commitment to detail, community building, and passion for the sport has remained.

Decades of Dedication

Our identity as a symbol of quality, excellence, and experience came from generations of groundbreaking ideas backed by some of the most decorated sailors in the sport.

Beginning with founder Harry C. Melges, the company has maintained a commitment and passion for not only building the highest quality boats, but building strong communities to foster the sport as well.

Early on, Harry Sr.’s son, Harry “Buddy” Melges Jr., was involved in operating the family boat-building business. Over time, Buddy established an impressive collection of championship titles, Olympic medals, and America’s Cup campaigns.

Harry Melges III proved that racing runs in the family when he won the 2002 Melges 24 World Championship in Travemunde, Germany. Harry became CEO of Melges Performance Sailboats and North Sails Zenda in 1995. Harry continues the legacy of Melges, securing the family company’s commitment to the growth of the sport and advancement of sailing engineering.

Our commitment to community and passion for connection began within the family. Melges isn’t just the most reputable, recognized and respected of industry names, it’s our family name.

Innovation, partnerships, and international success

In 1992, in a boat designed in part by Reichel Pugh Yacht Design, Buddy Melges captured the America’s Cup title alongside Bill Koch. The America’s Cup Challenge donned a high-tech look and a high-performance attitude that created a hunger for innovation across the world. Taking advantage of the engineering advancements utilized at the America’s Cup level, Melges led the way into the future with the introduction of the Melges 24. Designed by Reichel Pugh with a brief from Melges, the boat was formally introduced to the marketplace in 1993 and named ‘Boat of the Year’ by Sailing World Magazine in 1994. This boat would set the standard in the high-performance sportboat category for years to come.

Melges maintained a steady course of progress by acquiring Johnson Boat Works’ Scow Building Division. The acquisition made Melges the only builder of high-performance scows in the world.

In 2005, in addition to officially evolving the Melges Boat Works name to become Melges Performance Sailboats and fully rebranding the business’ corporate identity, Melges joined forces once again with Reichel Pugh Yacht Design and introduced two new products — the sporty Melges 17 Scow and the impressive Melges 32 Sportboat. Within six months, these brand new racing fleets celebrated their first national championships.

Widespread international demand for the Melges Sportboats led to major worldwide growth for the company.

In late October 2006, Melges appointed Northshore Yachting, trading as Melges Asia Pacific, to distribute the Melges 24 and Melges 32 in the Asia Pacific Rim. Some nine months later, in May 2007, Melges extended its global market reach once more to Milan, Italy, with the founding of Melges Europe — an exclusive sales, service and distribution center for the Melges 32 – and adding more talent to the team with Luisa Bambozzi.

The European sailing community was immediately attracted to the Melges 32 as a record-breaking 20 boats were sold in just five months. Adding to its growing success, the Melges 32 established its very successful Sailing Series — an intense racing series consisting of five events hosted at some of Europe’s most prestigious sailing venues and yacht clubs.

To further Melges Performance Sailboats’ unwavering campaign to support and encourage the sport of sailing on a worldwide scale, the development of the Melges 20 was announced in September of 2007. Another successful Melges/Reichel Pugh project, the Melges 20 championed a new philosophy that offered something to everyone — pro, novice, young or old, male or female. To this day, the International Melges 20 Class Association continues to be one of the most competitive racing classes in the world with Melges World League events in the USA, Europe and Asia. The Melges 20 Experience is simple, fun world-class racing at sailing’s most celebrated venues.

In the spring of 2016, the Melges 40 was introduced — the first canting keelboat offered by Melges. Unveiled in December of 2016, the Melges 40 was soon thereafter named ‘Keelboat of the Year’ by Yachts and Yachting Magazine. The Melges 40 Grand Prix has jumped into action, bringing top-notch racing on the water and first-class entertainment for owners, athletes and families. While boat owners focus on racing, Melges manages every technical and logistical detail for teams.

Our dedication to world-class One Design racing once again showed its colors when we crafted the Melges 14, introduced to the market in 2016. The combination of Reichel Pugh’s advanced design abilities and the magic Melges touch of community building fueled the vision behind what would become the Sailing World Magazine 2016 Boat of the Year – Best Dinghy. The boat quickly began to fill the demand for a modern, high quality and versatile singlehanded dinghy and presented a totally unique sailing experience: a fast and fun platform that levels the playing field.

At the turn of 2018, the new year brought a new era for Melges with the introduction of the Melges Power 26. Several years of research and development went into the company’s first powerboat.

In the Fall of 2020, Melges joined forces with Quantum Sails. This marked an incredible opportunity to better serve Melges sailors worldwide with greater design collaboration, stronger class expertise, and a unified commitment to excellent customer service.

Continuing tradition while pushing the boundaries.

Since our conception in 1945, our unwavering commitment to forwarding the sport of sailing has led us to make unprecedented innovations.

From boats that can be used for leisure to those that are raced in the highest international classes, and everything in between. From those with the love of the fleet handed down from generation to generation to those with brand new sailors and families finding success at their first try. The breadth of sailing capabilities within the family of Melges boats stretches wide.

No matter how far forward we go, we remain committed to the devotion, generosity, perseverance and passion that our community has come to expect.

Harry C. ‘Buddy’ Melges, Jr. is considered to be the greatest sailor in the sport of sailing. A native of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, he is married to Gloria, has one daughter, Laura, and two sons, Harry and Hans.

The son of Melges Boat Works’ founder Harry Sr., Buddy is an internationally known and very well-respected yachtsman. But perhaps he’s most recognized for his America’s Cup accomplishments. Among the 1987 America’s Cup Challengers, he represented the Chicago Yacht Club at the helm of Heart of America and raced against Dennis Conner, sailing Stars & Stripes. Unfortunately, Buddy did not win. In the end, Conner described Buddy as “one of the great sailors in the world.”

In 1992, Buddy captured the America’s Cup on America3 alongside Bill Koch. Their campaign symbolized the last successful defense of the Cup by an American team.

From an early age, Buddy grew up being involved in the family boat-building business. Over time, he established an impressive collection of championship titles and Olympic medals. During the 1964 Olympics, Buddy won a bronze medal in the Flying Dutchman Class. In 1968, at the Pan Am Games, he won a gold medal aboard the Flying Dutchman. In 1972, he won a gold medal in the Soling in Kiel, Germany — the class’s official debut in Olympic competition. He is the only sailor to have won an Olympic Bronze Medal, a Gold Medal and to hold an America’s Cup title.

In the years that followed, Buddy won more then 60 major national and international sailing championships. They include the Star World Championship in 1978 and 1979; 5.5 Meter Worlds in 1967, 1973 and 1983; International 50 Foot World Cup in 1989 on Carat VII; Maxi World Championship in 1991 on Matador2; the National E Scows in 1965, 1969, 1978, 1979 and 1983; and the I.L.Y.A. A Scow Championship in 1981, 1986 and 1987. Buddy also won the International Skeeter Ice Boat Championship a record seven times — 1955, 1957, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1980 and 2001.

Buddy’s list of sailing achievements doesn’t stop there. In addition to winning a number of other prestigious international trophies, he was named Yachtsman of the Year in 1961, 1972 and 1983, and One Design Sailor of the Year in 1978 and 1979.

Other achievements include:

  • 1961, 1972 and 1978: Martini Rossi Trophy
  • 1972: King of Spain Trophy
  • 1973: Hereshoff Trophy
  • 1987: W. Van Alan Clark Trophy ‘Sportsman of the Year’
  • 1990: Shamrock Endeavor (Return of the J’s) 1st
  • 1991: Columbus Cup
  • 1992: America’s Cup, America3, Winning Helmsman

A member of the Lake Geneva Yacht Club, Chicago Yacht Club, Columbia Yacht Club, Milwaukee Yacht Club, Texas Corinthian Yacht Club and Little Traverse Bay Yacht Club, Buddy is fun-retired and spends a good deal of time lecturing and teaching at clinics around the world. An avid outdoorsman, environmentalist and conservationist, he also serves the Delta Waterfowl Foundation (formerly the N.A. Wildlife Foundation) as Chairman of its Delta Marsh Rehabilitation Committee.

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