THE RACING SCOW EVOLVES. For years, the Inland Lake Yachting Association sanctioned competition in a variety of racing scows, ranging from the 40 foot Class A sloop and the 28 foot Class E, both of which are capable of pulling waterskiers, through the 20 foot Class C catboat and Class M-20 sloop, to the 16 foot singlehanded (except in heavy air) Class MC catboat and doublehanded Class M sloop. In recent years, the A and E fleets have enjoyed greater popularity, the M-20 has morphed into the I-20, and the builders have ceased production of the Class M. A few true believers continue to participate in the Class M invitational and championship regattas.

There appears to be a worthy successor to the Class M in the form of the Melges 17, a 17-foot (d'oh!) doublehanded sloop that incorporates a number of America's Cup inventions including extensive use of carbon fiber, the curved roach high-aspect mainsail, and asymmetrical spinnakers. (Blogger now lets readers click on these pictures to see bigger pictures.)


The Melges 17 Championship visited the Lake Geneva Yacht Club. Despite the weather mayhem all around us, there was no wind Saturday afternoon and ample opportunity to look at the boats and catch up on sailing news. Alas, no action shots, although I had an invitation to help out on observe from the race committee boat if they did race.

Class C and M champion Jane Pegel is impressed with the Melges 17's responsiveness to wind conditions. (She is quite formidable at adjusting the M Scow to any change in conditions, and many is the Lake Geneva, nay Inland, sailor she's blown past by adjusting more accurately to a wind shift.) To her eyes, the Seventeen reacts more quickly to wind changes, both accelerating and decelerating. That might keep the less-adaptive skippers closer, but the more alert and more adaptive skipper should still win.

The Seventeen is a bilgeboard scow, but the when-all-else-fails-pull these handles are not part of the boat's rig. No doubt legions of M and MC crews who have had to sit on those handles will appreciate the less-cluttered crew positions. But I'm going to have to look at this boat more closely with a view toward possible sources of complexity. (On a Laser, everything is in plain sight, and the new rules that allow pulleys instead of a cats-cradle of loops and knots on the boom vang and outhaul make adjustments somewhat easier to execute, although one must still remember to release all those settings for downwind before bearing off!)


A roller-furler jib, and a retractable spinnaker pole.


Intriguing boat ... I have enough toys, right?