Harry C. ‘Buddy’ Melges, Jr. was considered one of the greatest sailors in the sport of sailing. A native of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, he was married to Gloria and had one daughter, Laura, and two sons, Harry and Hans.
The son of Melges Boat Works’ founder, Harry Sr., Buddy was an internationally known and highly respected yachtsman. However, he was perhaps best 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, who sailed 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 was involved in the family boat-building business. Over time, he established an impressive collection of championship titles and Olympic medals. During the 1964 Olympics, he 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 secured a gold medal in the Soling in Kiel, Germany—the class’s official debut in Olympic competition. He was 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 than 60 major national and international sailing championships. These included the Star World Championship in 1978 and 1979; 5.5 Meter Worlds in 1967, 1973, and 1983; the International 50 Foot World Cup in 1989 on Carat VII; the 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—in 1955, 1957, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1980, and 2001.
Buddy’s list of sailing achievements did not 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 included:
- 1961, 1972, and 1978: Martini Rossi Trophy
- 1972: King of Spain Trophy
- 1973: Herreshoff Trophy
- 1987: W. Van Alan Clark Trophy ‘Sportsman of the Year’
- 1990: Shamrock Endeavor (Return of the J’s) – 1st place
- 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 eventually transitioned into retirement, spending much of his time lecturing and teaching at clinics around the world. An avid outdoorsman, environmentalist, and conservationist, he also served the Delta Waterfowl Foundation (formerly the N.A. Wildlife Foundation) as Chairman of its Delta Marsh Rehabilitation Committee.
