Not too worldly but still rolling

The Melges 24 Class tends to hold their World Championship in North America on alternating years, with the 2026 title to be on September 22-26 in Harbor Springs, MI, USA. And true to form, the North American events are not as big and definitely not as worldly.

This isn’t a big surprise. With few neighboring countries, shipping is costly and charter options may be limited. After the 2020 and 2021 Worlds were cancelled due to the pandemic, both 2022 (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) and 2024 (San Francisco, CA) had 31 boats from five nations.

For 2026, with a central location, fresh water, and manageable conditions, there are 38 current entrants – Canada (4), Great Britain (2), and USA (32).

With the dominance of professional teams, the Class initiated a Corinthian World Championship title in 2006. But to further boost interest, there’s a trophy for top first-time participant, best Under-25 team, and highest-finishing female helmsperson.

A Class must maintain a certain “worldliness” to maintain the right to host a World Championship, and this status is annually reviewed by World Sailing. Both the Melges 20 and 32 failed to maintain the necessary participation level, hosting their final world title in 2023 and 2022 respectively.

This will be the 27th Melges 24 Worlds, with hopefully many more.