A New Double-Handed Dinghy Fleet to Arrive for the 2023 Dublin Bay Sailing Season

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

The Melges 15 is capable of reaching close to 20 knots

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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 johnsheehy2011@gmail.com, and I will share the details, everyone welcome.

Check out the video below showing a recent event