Big Pimpin’
Melges Performance Sailboats just announced the Melges 14 Tour, a national series of try-it-out demo days and regattas. The Melges Team will be hitting the road with a trailer full of Melges 14s so anyone can test sail the new boat.
The Melges 14 Tour will come to Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Wisconsin and Illinois, among others. The inaugural event of the Tour is the Melges 14 Midwinter Championship in Sarasota, Florida March 17-19, where 25 boats will hit the starting line. The Lake Geneva Challenge at the Lake Geneva Yacht Club June 10-11 will certainly be a highlight of the Tour. Sailors can charter boats for any of the four regattas on the Melges 14 Tour.
“The Melges Team is launching the Melges 14 Tour so that curious sailors have the opportunity to try out the boat and see how much fun it really is,” said Andy Burdick, President of Melges Performance Sailboats, “Contact us so we can get you set up.”
Shoreline Sailboats, New York’s Melges 14 dealer, is organizing the New York Circuit of the Melges 14 Tour, a series of Tour Stops for Lake Ontario and the Finger Lakes in Upstate New York. New Yorkers can contact Shoreline Sailboats to add an event.
“Once you get a tiller in your hand, tuck your toes in the straps, and take this rocket out for a sail, you’ll see that this new boat is really changing the game for singlehanded dinghy sailing,” said Bob Hillier of Line Honors, a Melges 14 owner.
Anyone is welcome to see & try a new boat at any time: See new boat production at Melges Performance Sailboats in Zenda, Wisconsin, then try out the new boat on Lake Geneva.
Designed by Reichel/Pugh and built by Melges in Zenda, Wisconsin, USA, the Melges 14 is a modern one-design racing boat and also has the ability to sail with two people. The boat is 14 feet and features a large, open cockpit so no bailing is required. A carbon mast and boom complements its modern, flexible sail plan with three rigs: Gold (98 sq. ft.), Blue (85 sq. ft.) and Red (58 sq. ft.). Sailors can order a custom Melges 14 dolly, car top it or tow it behind any vehicle. Used as a beach boat, a family-style sailboat or a one-design racing platform, the Melges 14 was honored as Sailing World’s 2016 Boat of the Year – Best Dinghy. With fleets in North America, Europe and Asia, the Melges 14 is emerging as a true high performance one-design racing boat, just two years after its introduction.
More details on the Melges 14 Tour can be found here.
