Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | James Henry Melvin |
Nationality | American |
Born | Jackson, Mississippi, United States | January 11, 1962
Sport | |
Sport | Sailing |
Pete Melvin (born January 11, 1962) is an American sailor. [1] He competed in the Tornado event at the 1988 Summer Olympics. [2] Melvin is also a noted yacht designer with his partner Gino Morrelli as Morrelli and Melvin. [3] [4]
Melvin was born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962. [2] He spent his early years living in Florida. [5] He gained a degree in aerospace engineering from Boston University after graduating in 1985. [2] For five years, Melvin worked in aircraft design at McDonnell Douglas. [3]
Melvin competed in trials for the 1976 Summer Olympics, 1980 Summer Olympics, and the 1984 Summer Olympics. [5] At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Melvin competed in the Tornado event, finishing in 14th place. [6] Between 1997 and 2005, Melvin won three World Championships, [3] and he has also won 25 national titles. [7]
In 1994, along with Gino Morrelli, [8] Melvin designed the Hobie Wave catamaran. [9] [10] In 2010, they were both part of the team that built the USA-17 racing trimaran which went on to win the 2010 America's Cup. [2] Melvin was also involved in writing the AC72 and AC62 rules used in the America's Cup. [2] [11]
Melvin has also competed in races with his son, James. [12] [13]
Hobie Cat is a company that manufactures watercraft and other products as the Hobie Cat Company. "Hobie Cat" can also refer to specific products of the company, notably its sailing catamarans. Its fiberglass catamaran models range in nominal length between 14 feet (4.3 m) and 18 feet (5.5 m). Rotomolded catamaran models range in length between 12 feet (3.7 m) and 17 feet (5.2 m). Other sailing vessels in the Hobie Cat lineup include, monocats, dinghies, and trimarans, ranging in length between 9 feet (2.7 m) and 20 feet (6.1 m). Its largest product was the Hobie 33, 33 feet (10 m) in length. The company's non-sailing product line includes surfboards, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, pedalboards, eyeware, and e-bikes. It was founded in 1961 by Hobart (Hobie) Alter, who originally manufactured surfboards.
A sailing hydrofoil, hydrofoil sailboat, or hydrosail is a sailboat with wing-like foils mounted under the hull. As the craft increases its speed the hydrofoils lift the hull up and out of the water, greatly reducing wetted area, resulting in decreased drag and increased speed. A sailing hydrofoil can achieve speeds exceeding double and in some cases triple the wind speed.
The Hobie 33 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Hobie Alter and Phil Edwards as one-design racer and first built in 1982. It was the first monohull design for Alter and his company, after establishing their reputations for their lines of surfboards and catamarans
Iain Murray is an Australian sailor and yacht designer
Roman Hagara is an Austrian sailor who has won the gold medal in the Tornado class at two consecutive Olympic Games.
Hans-Peter Steinacher is an Austrian sailor and Olympic champion. He won a gold medal in the Tornado class with Roman Hagara at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. They won the gold medal again at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
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Randolph L. Smyth is an American competitive sailor and two-time Olympic silver medalist. He is a multihull specialist, who won two Olympic silver medals racing catamarans, and has won innumerable national and world titles skippering multihulls. In a 2003 profile on him in Sailing World magazine he was described as America's greatest multihull sailor. He was born in Pasadena, California.
Nacra Sailing is a Dutch company that manufactures a line of small catamaran sailboats, or beachcats. NACRA was founded in 1975 to tap into the market created by Hobie Alter the founder of Hobie Cat, and several other companies offering small fiberglass catamarans designed to be sailed off the beach by a crew of one or two.
The Nacra 17 is a performance catamaran used for sailing. It was designed in 2011, went into production in 2012 and has been the focus of multihull sailing at the Olympic Games since its conception.
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The Hobie Wave is an American catamaran that was designed by Morrelli & Melvin and first built in 1994.
The Hobie Bravo is an American catamaran sailing dinghy that was designed by Hobie Cat in 2000 and first built in 2001. The design is intended for sailing from beaches by one or two people.
The Hobie 17 is an American catamaran that was designed by John Wake as a single-handed racer and first built in 1985.
Ian Bruce, was a Canadian sailor. He competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics and the 1972 Summer Olympics. Along with Bruce Kirby, he invented the laser dinghy, which has been used at the Olympics since 1996.
The Hobie 14 is an American catamaran sailing dinghy that was designed by Hobie Alter and first built in 1967.
The Nacra 20 is a catamaran sailing dinghy that was designed by Gino Morrelli and Pete Melvin as a one-design racer and first built in 1998.
The Hobie 18 is an American catamaran sailboat that was designed by Hobie Alter and Phil Edwards as a one design racer and first built in 1976.
The Nacra F16 is a Dutch catamaran sailing dinghy that was designed by Americans Morrelli and Melvin as a one-design Formula 16 racer and first built in 2011.