How to make the Melges 20 better/simpler

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bailong

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Hi!

We think about buying a Melges20 and have some fun with racing it in mixed fleets, ORC or Yardstick (Germany). Races will be on open water (Baltic Sea more likely than North Sea) and bigger lakes. Winds from 8-16knots. Crew of 2 experienced sailors, 180kg….

What would you change to make sailing as efficient/simple as possible if you would ignore class rules? Would you still use the shroud adjustment system or just throw it over board? Bigger jib ? Or adding a code zero? Has anyone actually experience with reefing the main? I read some comments that the mast would not hold this. Can anyone comment on this?

I do not mind if the boat gets 1-2% slower, even 5%. But I want to have as little trouble as possible. That is actually why I sold my dragon. Great boat but too many options to make the boat really slow when pulling the wrong rope 1cm too much…..
 
BrightAyes

BrightAyes

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Simple. Sell it and buy a Melges 24. Problem-o solved. The 20 is some sort of stunted growth, little sibling no one much noticed, except the rich old uncle who could never run with the big boys. Compare the rigs and tell us which one is simpler by design? Hold my beer and Prove me wrong.

:)
 
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bailong

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Thanks for the recommendation to sell. I will come back to it shortly after I have bought it, made some modifications based on recommendations from SA readers and sailed it with little crew around the cans…..
 
KC64000

KC64000

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10 months of winter, 8 weeks of bad skating
I thought about responding to each point, but the M20 was designed for the person who wants 1 design / super tweaky / costs be damned day sailor. Taking the boat out into open water in a mixed fleet in a breeze isn't a whole lot of fun - I would look elsewhere. M24 is a good bet, but you need 4-5 athletic crew who love pain (think hiking), but are rewarded with awesome speed.
 
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bailong

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I should have mentioned that we did run (before the Dragon) a Farr 30 for 3 years, a Melges24 for 2 years, a J24 for 4 years and several other race boats, big and small. So one thing I know for sure: I want a boat to be sailed with VERY small crew (max 3 people) and occasionally single or double handed. The Farr30 was and is in my eyes the perfect bargain, great boat, competitive under IRC etc. BUT it requires crew, no chance for double handed or even single. The same for the Melges24. So we came to the M20....
 
BrightAyes

BrightAyes

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KC64000 said:
I thought about responding to each point, but the M20 was designed for the person who wants 1 design / super tweaky / costs be damned day sailor. Taking the boat out into open water in a mixed fleet in a breeze isn't a whole lot of fun - I would look elsewhere. M24 is a good bet, but you need 4-5 athletic crew who love pain (think hiking), but are rewarded with awesome speed.
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What he said. Surely you can wrestle up 3 addition sailors from all those past campaigns?
 
Raz'r

Raz'r

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simpler? There's a vang, jib sheets, kite sheets, mainsheet. Kite launch items. What less do you want?

1660066989817.png
 
@last

@last

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Perhaps a J/70? Similar size, no taco hiking, I think a decent supply of used in Europe/hull numbers north of 1500 now and not super tweaky.
 
B

barney

Member
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Raz'r said:
simpler? There's a vang, jib sheets, kite sheets, mainsheet. Kite launch items. What less do you want?

View attachment 533409
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What's the idea behind the inboard spin sheet turning block? I usually looking for a larger sheeting angle when soaking downwind. Crew is sometines using their hand to keep the sheet further outboard.
 
Jethrow

Jethrow

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barney said:
What's the idea behind the inboard spin sheet turning block? I usually looking for a larger sheeting angle when soaking downwind. Crew is sometines using their hand to keep the sheet further outboard.
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I've never sailed the boat but maybe the inboard position is something as simple as less drag on the sheet from running over the side decks? No need for extra turning blocks...
 
WCB

WCB

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barney said:
What's the idea behind the inboard spin sheet turning block? I usually looking for a larger sheeting angle when soaking downwind. Crew is sometines using their hand to keep the sheet further outboard.
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Soaking downwind with your crew's hand on the sheet with an asymmetrical spinnaker? How would that work?
 
Mambo Kings

Mambo Kings

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bailong said:
Hi!

We think about buying a Melges20 and have some fun with racing it in mixed fleets, ORC or Yardstick (Germany). Races will be on open water (Baltic Sea more likely than North Sea) and bigger lakes. Winds from 8-16knots. Crew of 2 experienced sailors, 180kg….

What would you change to make sailing as efficient/simple as possible if you would ignore class rules? Would you still use the shroud adjustment system or just throw it over board? Bigger jib ? Or adding a code zero? Has anyone actually experience with reefing the main? I read some comments that the mast would not hold this. Can anyone comment on this?

I do not mind if the boat gets 1-2% slower, even 5%. But I want to have as little trouble as possible. That is actually why I sold my dragon. Great boat but too many options to make the boat really slow when pulling the wrong rope 1cm too much…..
Click to expand...
If I was aiming for simplicity and less crew after a Melges 24, I would downsize to the Viper 640 where the design was focused on simplicity and easy ergonomics. The Melges 20 is quite twitchy in terms of tune and set up. The M20 will also "feel" under powered downwind compared to your Melges 24 which is a genuine American muscle car.

However, you have chosen the M20 for the job in hand. So here are a few thoughts on what I would consider if I did not care about class rules.
  • I would leave the shroud adjustment system as it is. The shroud system is a bit more complicated than most boats this size due to having 3 sets of shrouds vs 2. The shroud car is useful because it is better to move the car aft as the breeze gets up than tighten the uppers (which correspondingly softens the diamond shrouds). I like the shroud cars but check the ball bearings, they take a lot of strain and can wear out before blowing out.
  • The big change I would make is to have a sail maker design you a modern spinnaker shape with a shorter foot, enabling you to move the spinnaker blocks forward and outboard. You will obtain better gybes, better visibility and not lose much if any speed.
  • You are also less likely to get in caught inside the network of shrouds....but many M20 sailors recommend tying shockcord between the shrouds to reduce that problem
They are well built little boats, mostly pro-sailed over here but should give you hours of fun in Germany.
 
VeloceSailing

VeloceSailing

Member
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Sweden
Mambo Kings said:
The big change I would make is to have a sail maker design you a modern spinnaker shape with a shorter foot, enabling you to move the spinnaker blocks forward and outboard. You will obtain better gybes, better visibility and n
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Big +

We got our asymmetric spinnakers as described above on a j80 to sail shorthanded under handicap. Easier to handle than the class gennaker, 17% smaller, great positive impact on rating and as fast
 
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