M-20 Scow
Description
The M-20 Scow is a classic, high-performance inland racing scow designed by Harry Melges Sr. and Harry "Buddy" Melges Jr. (of Melges Boat Works fame) in 1963. It was created as the scow equivalent of the Olympic Flying Dutchman class, emphasizing speed, planing ability, and excitement on flat inland lakes—featuring a flat-bottomed scow hull with twin centerboards (bilgeboards) for lateral resistance without a trunk intrusion, a fractional sloop rig, and a powerful sail plan for thrilling downwind runs (especially with spinnaker). Built primarily by Melges Boat Works (now Melges Performance Sailboats) in Zenda, Wisconsin, with ~675 hulls produced (some later by Windward Boatworks), it's one of the most successful scow classes of its era—still active in fleets on lakes like Geneva (WI), Okoboji (IA), and others, with strong one-design racing under the Inland Lake Yachting Association (ILYA) and North American Scow Sailing Association.
Construction Details
| Designer | Harry Melges Sr. and Harry "Buddy" Melges Jr. |
|---|---|
| Builder | Melges Boat Works |
| Length | 20.000 ft |
| LOA | 20.000 ft |
| LWL | 14.000 ft |
| Beam | 5.670 ft |
| Displacement | 595 lb |
| Max Draft | 3.500 ft |
| Min Draft | 0.670 ft |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | - |
|---|---|
| j | - |
| p | - |
| e | - |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Documents
Sails
M-20 Scow - MAINSAIL
| Luff | 24 ft - (7315 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 9.5 ft - (2896 mm) |
| Leech | * 25.36 ft - (7730 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 87.99 ° |
| Diagonal | * 25.5 ft - (7772 mm) |
| Head (inches) | * 4.5 in - (114 mm) |
| Area | 113.85 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator |
M-20 Scow - JIBSAIL
| Luff | 19.58 ft - (5968 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 7 ft - (2134 mm) |
| Leech | 17.83 ft - (5435 mm) |
| Length Perpendicular | 6.36 ft - (1939 mm) |
| Area | 62.27 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator |
M-20 Scow - SPINNAKER
| Stays | 20.5 ft - (6248 mm) |
|---|---|
| MidGirth | 14.5 ft - (4420 mm) |
| Foot | 16.83 ft - (5130 mm) |
| Area | 293.26 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.
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