Melges 17 Sailboats for Sale

Hull Type

Scow · centerboard

Rig

Fractional Sloop

LOA

16.65' · 5.07 m

Disp.

300 lbs · 136 kg

First year

2005

The Melges 17 represents a pivotal modernization of the traditional Inland Lake Yachting Association (ILYA) scow, blending a century of flatbottomed design heritage with contemporary highperformance engineering. Launched in 2005 as a successor to the venerable M16, the Melges 17 was designed by the acclaimed naval architecture firm Reichel/Pugh Yacht Design to provide a fast, doublehanded racing platform that could be managed by a variety of crew weights. Unlike its predecessors, which often relied on symmetrical spinnakers and complex pole setups, the 17foot Melges was built from the ground up to utilize an asymmetric spinnaker and a retractable carbon fiber bowsprit. This shift significantly lowered the barrier to entry for highspeed downwind sailing while maintaining the technical "tweaking" capabilities that appeal to veteran scow sailors.