SA tESTING mELGES20!!

-pix/txt/links/and each other thing courtesy of sailinganarchy.com-

Mini...You?
A first look and test sail of the brand new Melges 20.

Some might have thought that getting a crazed Pakistani shuttle driver, who after I called a kook during 20 minutes of insane tailgating and radical lane changes, told me not worry as he "was a former pilot in my country" as a bad start to a trip, but not me. The fact that I even made it in one piece to the San Francisco Yacht Club to see the new Melges 20 seemed like a great start!

After some excellent SA PR work by Mr. Clean, I got hooked up with Harry Melges and Andy Burdick to take the new baby Melges for a spin on the SF Bay. The Melges boys actually had two 20's there, each identical except for the rigs, where one had a 2' taller rig as they wanted to see what performance differences there might be between the two. I sailed on the short rig boat with Harry and Andy for about three hours in breeze between 8-14 true. Anarchist White Wing was also on hand, sailing the bigger rig as a prospective customer.

The first thing you notice when you see the 20 is that there is no mistaking that it is a Reichel/Pugh designed Melges, albeit one with a bit more proportional freeboard (they want it to not be a wet boat.) As the 32 and 24 are similar, so is the 20, with a couple of notable differences. First there is no cabin - this is a day sailor that is all cockpit - and there are no lifelines, except for "anti hiking backsider pads" - essentially a padded strap between two mini stanchions spanning almost the length of the cockpit. No hiking? I like it already. Another design difference, and one that is seemingly becoming de rigueur, is the now seemingly ubiquitous aft chine. It does add a nice modern touch and seemed to do it's job.

Harry and Andy said that one of the things they wanted to achieve with the 20 was to appeal to a less "hot rod" market by creating a simple, uncomplicated, user friendly boat that would be fast, but not intimidating. The adjustable shrouds seen above right were a very cool touch. An initial crew weight limit of 550 pounds keeps it small, and they are giving consideration to requiring each crew to have a woman or junior sailor onboard as another way to get more people involved in the sport, another of their stated goals. We really think that is a great ideas.

Hull No 1 and 2 were very well presented and looked super clean. Built by McConaghy Boats (China), the builder builds all the parts - the boat, rig, sprit, keel fin, tiller. The idea according to Harry was have a builder who could ship complete boats (four per container) anywhere in the world. Hard to pick anybody better than McConaghy for the task, and the 20's really appear nicely built and are really well finished. A slick Harken below deck jib furler, Carbon bowsprit with ‘one pull’ tack line-pole out system, and a huge, rolled edge cockpit really make the boat very easy to use. It also has a keel kelp cutter and a mid cockpit floor hatch to store the small outboard and other assorted gear. The upside down vang really opened up the forward end of the cockpit as seen below.

On to the sailing - the boat was really fun to sail - a very neutral helm, comfortable steering position (those backsider pads rock), and the deck layout and rig were simple and easy: no traveler, no backstay, no winches, no worries. We didn't have any instruments, so it was hard to say how fast we were going, but it felt really good upwind in 12 true with the three of us not hiking (!) as you sit inboard leaning up against the back rest, er "backsider pads" - very nice - especially for old dudes like me. I'd guess maybe 6 kts upwind seemed to be about right. And though reasonably flat in the Bay, the boat was not wet. Hell I could have just worn shorts!

Downwind the thing was a giggle - quick to get up on a plane, responsive as hell, and it just seemed to haul ass. Here's a little vid I shot and it gives you the idea. We thought the shorter rig was the same if not a bit better in 12 and over upwind and downwind the bigger rig was able to go lower at the same speed. No doubt in under 12 the big rig would be quicker, but though the big rig has more power, that is not the goal with the 20. Said Harry, "We want to create a boat and a class that a broad spectrum of sailor can sail well and fairly easily. Of course we want it to be quick, but most important to be fun and easy to sail." As a consequence, they are leaning towards going with the shorter rig.

It was fun to listen to Harry and Andy talk about the boat and what they might or might not change (not much). The fact that they didn't laugh at my input made me think these are really nice guys. They have really put some thought and effort into turning out a world class product, and it seems they have hit their marks.

It is not in my nature to do a review without finding something to be critical of, but on this day of sailing and snooping, the only thing I could question was the price. The USA base price of the boat with a trailer is $41,670 including shipping and duties. Add sails, tax and the other assorted goodies (admittedly, not much else is needed, but there's always something) and you are looking at 50 large for a 20' daysailor. Granted, this won't be just any daysailor, it might be the nicest one around in fact, but is the market there for this boat? Given what the world has come to know from Melges, we'd be surprised if the boat isn't a hit. And with over 30 orders, it looks like they are on their way. Btw, all the good photos in this article were taken by Erik and Jessica Simonson, all the bad ones were by the Ed.

-pix/txt/links/and each other thing courtesy of sailinganarchy.com-