Melges 20 Class deemed non-compliant

The 2025 World Sailing Annual Conference, with delegates from over 60 countries to discuss the future of the sport, will be held November 2-8 in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland. Among the discussion items will be a review of World Sailing Class Associations.

The sport of sailing can be confusing due to the multitude of world championships, but for Class Organizations to host world titles, they must fulfill certain World Sailing standards to insure events sufficiently represents prominent international competition.

Among the classes on the chopping block is the Melges 20 which came on the scene in 2007 and was accepted as a World Sailing international class in November 2012. This Reichel/Pugh design was intended to be a kinder, gentler sibling to the Melges 24, but professional sailors learned how to tweak this 20-footer which raised the cost to compete.

From 52 boats at the 2013 World Championships to 14 in 2023, the class no longer meets the minimum global distribution numbers and has failed to meet other obligations. For the World Sailing report on class review, click here.