melvolution

“How to make a fast boat even faster for a smaller crew”

Sailormade Yachting from Berlin, Germany, recently launched their latest project: “melvolution”. This performance sportsboat was born as a Melges 24 but has been refitted with a Canting Keel and Canard and some additional electronics from B&G.

Nadja Duken, President of sailormade Yachting, and Daniel Brambeer, Project Manager, answer some questions regarding the boat, the project and the company.

What was your intention to refit a Melges 24 with a Canting Keel ?

ND
The basic idea behind the project was to create a modern sportsboat for a crew of 3 that can be sailed really fast, offering lots of fun, yet comfortable. The Melges 24 was a great boat in 1992, when it came on the market. But the class is facing the same problems as many other OD classes do: What are you doing with old boats that are not any longer competitive in OD ? The other aspect is that many regatta sailors have trouble getting together a crew of 4 or even 5. melvolution is the perfect boat for 3, not any longer OD but for any other rule such as ORC Club, SBR or PHRF.

DBFrom the technical point of view the Melges 24 did offer some features that made the refit a lot easier than for example it would have been with a J22. It already comes with a retractable keel with a straight fin. So basically all we had to do is to remove the old keel box and put in a new one that allows the canting angle. The keel is fixed in a corset made from stainless steel which is fastened rotatably.

The whole system gets moved by a 1:24 block and tackle. Plus an extra Canard for upwind courses in stronger winds with the keel canted to windward. As we have loads of up to 900 kg on the keel top we wanted to make sure that even an all-female crews can handle the keel.

What are the benefits for this modification ? And what are the weak points ?

ND
The biggest benefit for the sailor is that you just need 3 people on the boat. This always had been enough to handle the boat. So no longer a need to carry around extra crew (aka “rail meet”). Another benefit, especially from my personal “female” point of view” is that the bat is now competitive for a female crew. Female crews always had the option to be too light or too many on the boat. That now has changed.

The weak point obviously could be that we are not any longer allowed to sail OD. BUT as the boat already was 8 years old, it wasn’t any longer really competitive. So we see a “second” future for the boat in handicap racing, especially SBR and ORC Club.

DB: Again from the technical side the Canting Keel gives the boat an extra uprighting moment without putting additional weight on it. The additional weight caused by the stainless steel keel box, the Canard etc. is just about 30 kg. The net additional weight is close to 5 or 10 kg. This is nothing. The Canard gives the boat a lot more “steering stability” and especially in stronger winds more windward lift. And you can easily lift it up when sailing downwind or in light winds when the keel is not canted.

We do have a lot more “power” in the boat so to make sure that nothing breaks was an issue. But we generally have put a safety reserve of more than 50% into the new system. So this should be fine.

How will the new type of boat be called ?

ND
Due to copyright reasons we are not allowed to call the boat Melges any longer. We did talk to the copyright holder and they agreed that this would be a fascinating project. But as the Melges 30 did face some problems with keel in the early years they do not want us to use the Name “Melges”. We have to live with that. So the type will be a “sailormade 24”. The prototypes name is “melvolution”.

Can you give us some basic figures about the boat after the Refit?

Before/After

• Total weight 900/910
• Ballast weight 300/300
• Sail area upwind 35,3 m²/35,3 m²
• Sail area downwind 97,2 m²/97,2 m²
• Draft 1,52 m/1,57 m
• max Righting moment keel centerline 6,83 kNm 6,83 kNm
• max Righting moment keel + 30 degrees ./ 12,27 kNm
• Maximum canting angle 0/40 degrees
• Max Crew weight 360 k/ 280 kg
• ORC rating ?/601

Data Diagrams “ righting moments

Why didn’t you take water ballast instead of the Canting Keel ?

DB: Water ballast puts again more weight onto the boat, just under certain conditions but still it is a fact that massively influences the boat in the water, waterline length etc. Water ballast can be an option if you develop a boat from scratch. Also it takes too much time pumping ballast from one side to the other for fast tacking on sportboat’s courses.

How long did the project take ? What are the total costs ?

DB: From first thinking until completion we took about 2.5 months including 3 weeks in the shipyard. It could have been done faster but as we started from zero we had to consider many options, pros and cons to find the best solution. And, to be honest, after the first trials we had to make some changes to the configuration, especially the purchase system.

ND: Total costs including engineering etc. for the Canting Keel and the Canard were about 3500 Euros. As we did this project with our network partners from navalis yachts we saved a lot of money on engineering hours… Thanks Björn !

What are your next steps ?

ND
The boat will have its first official start end of July in Travemünde while the ISRA Euro League Regatta. The boat will be sailed by an all-female crew with Antje Fischer from Berlin at the helm. There will be some other regattas in Northern Europe until end of October. And we hope that some other owners come and hire us to modify their boats as well J

Do you have plans to sell the boat or the technology ?

ND
We are not yet certain about this point. Selling is always an option as we are a small company and could reinvest the money. On the other side is this boat a very nice platform to test things before making a series.

We are offering the technology and our experience with it to the market.

Who is sailormade Yachting ?

ND
sailormade Yachting is a small company in Berlin, Germany that was founded in 2003 by a group of sailing enthusiasts who want to bring some “fresh blood” into the market. It is a shame, at least in Europe, how this whole industry runs. We always compare most players in the market with automobile producers in the late 60s or 70s. The market volume in Germany is close to 1.000 Million Euros, but most yards, dealers and suppliers treat their clients as if they were idiots. We want to change this. And want to show what could be possible. From services to products, from presale to aftersale.

What did you learn from the project ?

ND
First of all: When you believe in something just do it. We posted here on SA a few months ago the idea to refit a Melges with a Canting Keel. Most reactions were “No, can’t do it”, “stupid idea” etc. Now, when we informed about the progress and showed some pictures, most reactions are really positive, such as “Cool project”, “excellent idea” etc. So, we think we did something right.

The other thing we learned was, that you can think about something for hours and hours. In the moment you see it in practice you will see all the mistakes. Don’t waste too much time on thinking. Start doing it !

Those “lessons learned” are not really new. But helpful for our future project, the “Dayracer 29” with hydraulic Canting Keel, Steering wheel instead of tiller, inboard engine, real toilette etc. Wait and see….