Melges 20 selected as Sportboat for the 2016 Resolute Cup

Melges 20 selected as Sportboat for the 2016 Resolute Cup © Steve Bernstein / IM20CA

The Resolute Cup © Billy Black

The best sailors can make any boat go fast (or faster than one sailed by the competition). That's one reason The Resolute Cup, a Corinthian championship for U.S. yacht clubs, which will be sailed September 12 to 17 out of the New York Yacht Club at Harbour Court, in Newport, R.I., has always used two different fleets of keelboats. The winning team will be the one that is best able to adapt to the sailing styles required for success in each design.

For the 2016 Resolute Cup, the New York Yacht Club has selected the Melges 20 design to be featured in the regatta, alongside the Club's fleet of Sonars. The peppy Melges 20, with its large asymmetric spinnaker, is one of the world's most popular and most competitive sportboats, thrilling amateurs and professionals alike with its performance, agility and intense one-design competition.

"We are extremely excited to have the Melges 20 class involved in the 2016 Resolute Cup," says event chair Patricia O'Donnell. "The name Melges has been synonymous with performance sailing for more than half a century. The inclusion of the company's latest keelboat in the 2016 Resolute Cup will add a dose of speed and excitement to the regatta."

While the regatta plan hasn't yet been finalized, the Club is anticipating inviting 30 yacht club teams to the Resolute Cup. Those teams will be broken into three groups for qualifying, with the teams rotating between two fleets of Sonars and one fleet of Melges 20s. The top teams in each group will move to a championship, which will be sailed in the Melges 20s. The consolation finals will be held in the Sonars.

As with previous Resolute Cup regattas—the event was originally known as the U.S. Qualifying Series for the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup—the emphasis is on one-design, Corinthian competition. The sails will be provided and the rig tune will be standardized across the respective fleets. Each sailor must be a World Sailing Group 1 (amateur) sailor, and a member of the club he or she represents.

"Our brand was built on the excitement of one-design competition in fast boats," says Melges president Andy Burdick. "We are very excited to partner with the New York Yacht Club on this great event."

Due to this late-breaking announcement, the organizing authority has extended the deadline for interested American yacht clubs to request an invitation. The application period will close on Tuesday, February 2, and invitations will be issued in early February. The form to request an invitation can be found here.

About The Resolute Cup

The Resolute Cup is a biennial Corinthian competition among U.S. yacht clubs. The 2016 Resolute Cup will take place Sept. 12 to 17, out of the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court in Newport. R.I. The event is an evolution of the U.S. Qualifying Series for the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, which was first held in 2010 and served as a pathway for American yacht clubs seeking to compete in the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, sailing's premiere international, Corinthian, one-design competition. Competitors in the 2016 Resolute Cup must be ISAF Group 1 (amateur) sailors and members of the club that they represent. The competition is held in supplied keelboats, with standardized rigging, ensuring a true one-design competition where the skill of the sailors—their tactics, boat speed and teamwork—determines the final outcome. Past winners of the U.S. Qualifying Series include Newport Harbor Yacht Club (2014), Larchmont Yacht Club (2012) and Eastern Yacht Club (2010). www.ResoluteCup.com