Morrelli & Melvin

In Production

Janneau Lagoon 35ccc

Reviews of the Jeanneau Lagoon 35ccc are starting to be written, and they look good. The June issue of Cruising World stated "As smallish cruising catamarans go, the Lagoon 35ccc succeeds in achieving a very pleasant blend of volume and low-profile aesthetics." And the August issue of Sail said "If you're looking for onboard space, seakindliness, and a good turn of speed in a multihull, the Lagoon 35ccc will meet your requirements."

Some of the Lagoon 35s TPI is constructing in Rhode Island are going into charter. The Lagoon 35ccc is now available for charter in the San Juan Islands, Washington, Annapolis, Maryland, and New London, Connecticut.

NACRA Inter 18

The new NACRA Inter 18 is being raced hard in Europe. Pete Melvin and Jay Glaser sailed the Inter 18 in the Formula 18 European Championship finishing second in the 53 boat regatta. Of the four Inter 18s competing, three finished in the top ten. Twenty-two Inter 18s competed in this year's Around Texel Island race in Holland. Five of the top 20 boats were Inter 18s.

The 1996 Alter Cup this September will be sailed in Inter 18s at King Harbor Yacht Club in Redondo Beach, Ca.

Hobie Cat Wave

The Hobie Cat Wave is now being enjoyed at Club Med locations, the Bitter End Yacht Club in the Virgin Islands, Barkers Island on Lake Superior, and other resorts. The charter type usage of the Wave at these locations have resulted in a Club version with heavier gauge standing rigging, a tight three piece trampoline, and a mast float to prevent turtling.

The Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda, BVI considers adding Waves to their watersport fleet a "tremendous success". John Glynn, Director of Special Events, writes "Since adding them to our sailing fleet, they have quickly become among our most popular boats. Not only are they a hit among the 'Learn to Sail' crowd, but they also satisfy the true 'speed hounds'. And recently we have also discovered that they ideally lend themselves to family outings, accommodating a family of three or four easily. From a maintenance standpoint, we couldn't be happier."

Racing

Crash & Burn!

Lake Geneva Switzerland has been a hot test bed for the 41 foot multihulls that race there. In the constant pursuit of speed, these boats have pushed the limits of power. The Morrelli & Melvin designed 41' trimaran Happycalopse, 3 time Bol d'Or winner and 4 time season champion, and Alinghi, our latest 41' trimaran and 1995 season champion, were both pushed beyond the edge early this year.

Both boats were modified last winter adding more solent and genoa sail area. We pushed North Sails 3DL toward much flatter shapes for mains, solents and genoas. These sails were made for us with considerable amounts of carbon. The net result was that the reduced elasticity and tighter sheeting angles increased halyard and sheet loads by a factor of 2.5. Mainsheet tension has gone from 1,800 lbs to 4,000 over the last 2 seasons. The unfortunate consequence was Happycalopse suffered a compression failure in its mainhull bow during a delivery, resulting in the rig coming down. Fortunately no one was hurt and the rig was not damaged.

Three weeks later Alinghi was leading the '96 Bol d'Or sailing with the masthead 3DL carbon genoa, 3 crew on it's 12' rack and 3 crew on the weather float, and boat speed near 13.5 knots in 7 knots of true wind speed. This is 2 knots faster than 1995 in the same conditions. Suddenly, Kaboom!, the rig came down dumping 3 crew into the water as it snapped across the aft beam on the way down. The bobstay, which resists the genoa halyard load, broke 3 feet of the mainhull bow near the deck/hull joint, resulting in a lack of support for the 14' bow sprit which supports the headstay. The failure resulted in a gaping hole in the bow, a broken rig and a lost season championship. Fortunately no one was hurt. Our very supportive owners, Marco Landolt of Happycalopse and Ernesto Bertarelli of Alinghi committed to returning to the fray.

After two weeks of work by Bertrand Cardis and his capable boatbuilding team at Decision SA, both Happycalopse and Alinghi returned to race for the Montreux Jazz Sailing Trophy. In a drifter of a series, both boats came back and quickly found themselves at the head of the pack taking second and fourth respectively.

We have constantly pushed the edge of the envelope in closely monitored race boats to maximize performance. Failures, though rare, are intensely valuable for learning the limits of current boat design and construction techniques. We translate these learning experiences into all our designs to truly create homogenous designs and to insure that all links of the chain are equally strong. We race so you win.

Morrelli & Melvin Enter The A-Class Ring

The 1997 A-Class catamaran world championships will be held in Long Beach, Ca. next September. The A-Class catamaran is a development rule specifying a boat 18 feet long and 7.5 feet wide with 150 square feet of sail area and a minimum boat weight of just 75kg (165 lbs). Because of this light boat's performance, the A-Class catamaran seems to have hit a target for many single handed sailors.

Southern California A-Class sailors expressed interest in developing a new boat that would be built in the U.S. In response, Morrelli & Melvin have designed a new A-Class catamaran that will be built by talented performance sailboat builder Larry Tuttle of Santa Cruz, Ca. A set of hulls costs $5600 and boats will be available in October. Interested parties can contact either Morrelli & Melvin or Larry Tuttle (408) 462-5745 for more information.

Stars & Stripes

Steve Fossett, owner or the 60' trimaran Lakota, has purchased the soft sail sister ship to the America's Cup winning catamaran Stars & Stripes '88 from Dennis Connor. Gino Morrelli was on Dennis Connor's design team for the 1988 America's Cup defense and has sailed with Dennis on almost all Newport-Ensenada races since then.

Steve Fossett's list of sailing records is likely to grow with the purchase of Stars & Stripes. Steve and crew sailed Stars & Stripes in the 333 mile Chicago-Mackinaw race this summer finishing in just 29:35:28, 3 hours 45 minutes off record pace.

Offshore Sailor of the Year

Multihull sailor Steve Fossett was recently recognized for his sailing accomplishments by being awarded Sailing World magazine's Offshore Sailor of the Year Award.

Lakota, Steve Fossett's 60 foot Jeanneau trimaran, with crew Steve Fossett, Ben Wright, Brian Thompson, and Pete Melvin made a non-race record 125 nautical mile run from Newport Beach, Ca to Ensenada, Mexico in 7 hours and 35 minutes.

Aloha! TRANSPAC '97

The 39th edition of the biennial Transpacific Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu will have a fresh new look when the fleet begins its passage in July of 1997. "For the 1997 race, we're going to let the sailors tell us what handicap systems they'd like to use...and we'll accommodate them," explained Gil Jones, Commodore of the Transpacific Yacht Club. "We expect the largest number of racers to sail in PHRF, with other Classes competing under the International Offshore Rule (IOR), the International Measurement System (IMS), or racing on a boat-for-boat basis."

Additionally, there will be separate classes for multihulls and for double-handed boats. 45 feet has been established as the minimum length for multihulls. "We've opened the doors so that more boats will be eligible and welcome to take part in one of the World's truly great offshore classics," Jones summarized.

Gino Morrelli has been asked to be in charge of the multihull class. "We are excited that multihulls will have their own class next year and hope to see several boats on the starting line next July. There are some good used French 60 foot trimarans and catamarans available like Steve Fossett's Lakota that would make great Transpac boats"

Entry information packets for Transpac '97 can be obtained from Dan Nowlan, 1522 LaPlaya Avenue #310, San Diego, CA 92109, (619) 490-1010.

Freedom Going Fast

Bill Erkelens of San Francisco purchased the MM designed 25' C-Class catamaran Freedom's Wing and has converted the wing sail catamaran into a soft-sail record setting machine. MM designed a new rig incorporating a 40' carbon fiber mast with main, roller furling reacher, and asymmetrical spinnaker.

Freedom has now won two of the three races entered. Pete Melvin and Bill Erkelens sailed in the 70 mile "Ditch Run" from San Francisco to Stockton, Ca. at an average of 10 knots in 0 to 7 knot winds. Their 7 hour finish time was a first to finish and overall corrected time victory.

Keynote Speaker

Gino Morrelli recently appeared as a speaker at the IBEX (International Boatbuilders Exhibition) West keynote address "Hull Forms for the 21st Century". The keynote panel discussed trends in the design of sail and powerboats, and explained some advanced hull forms likely to appear on the market soon. Panel members included Morrelli, Bill Lee of Wizard Yachts (noted designer of Santa Cruz yachts), and Richard Harp of R&D by Harp. Gino covered trends in power multihull craft, Lee discussed monohulls, and Harp spoke of engineering variable-geometry hull forms.

Gino also conducted an IBEX West workshop on multihull design, covering the major issues of the field, including aesthetics, accommodations and powering. "It was a good general overview for sailboat and powerboat builders interested in this increasingly popular hull design," sail Morrelli.

PowerCat Study Plans

Morrelli & Melvin are now offering study plans and stock plans for their 20', 25', 34' and 35' PowerCats. Study plans are intended to give a client enough information so that they can get a quote from a builder. Pricing on all Study Plans and Stock Plans at the bottom of this page.

Calendar

• Sep 12-15 Newport Boatshow, Newport RI
• Sep 19-22 Norwalk Boatshow, Norwalk CT
• Sep 26-29 IMTEC3, McCormick Place Chicago, IL
• Sep 28-29 American Sailing Association (ASA) Presentation by Gino Morrelli at Long Beach Yacht Club
• Oct 4 Multihull Cruising Seminar by Gino Morrelli and Guy Bunting at Orange Coast College, Newport Beach, Ca (714) 645-9412
• Oct 10-14 Annapolis Boatshow, Annapolis MD
• Oct 18 Power Catamaran Seminar by Pete Melvin at Orange Coast College, Newport Beach, Ca (714) 645-9412
• Oct 31-Nov 3 Sail Expo, St.Petersburg FL
• Nov 11-14 METS, Amsterdam, Holland
• Nov 29-Dec 9 Paris Boat Show
• Jan 18-26 Dusseldorf Boat Show, Germany

MM Stock Designs / Stock Plan / Study Plan

52' Sailing Cruising Catamaran / $8500 / $850
46' Sailing Cruising Catamaran / $7500 / $750
36' Sailing Swing Wing Trimaran / $4500 / $450
35' PowerCat Cabin Cruiser / $3500 / $350
34' PowerCat Sport Fisher / $3000 / $300
25' PowerCat Center Console / $500 / $50
20' PowerCat Center Console / $400 / $40
NEW Design Portfolio w/photos / $25

Available Boats

72' sailing catamaran: Gino co-designed this well equipped cruiser for surfing and diving adventures. Currently in Bali, the asking price is $700,000.

Windmar 65 Star Chaser. Set up for day charter work. . Asking $695,000 not for sale in US.

ProSail F-40 Catamaran (TomCat) modified for ocean racing and ready to go. Currently in San Francisco asking $75,000.

ProSail F-40 Catamaran (ex Timberland) including trailer and truck, asking $140,000. Currently in L.A.

20' Tornado Catamaran: Reg White built. US Nationals Winner. $10,000.

20' Tornado Catamaran: Classic Wood, Tilt Trailer, New Mast $4000.

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