Pete Melvin is a multiple class world and national champion as well as an innovative yacht designer. Working at his company Morrelli & Melvin, he has designed boats ranging from the record setting 125-foot PlayStation maxi-catamaran to two different World Championship winning A Class catamarans.

 

Pete has been creating innovative vehicles since his youth.  Not discouraged when the boat he built as a six-year old did not float, he rebounded and built a fast motorized skateboard by the time he was 10. Pete and his father designed and built several Optimist dinghies and then formed a company to build them. They used Nomex honeycomb and carbon fiber long before these materials gained acceptance in the marine industry. Pete has always designed, built, rigged, and prepared his own race boats, creating many innovations along the way.

Melvin manages the design office at MM Yachts and participates in all levels of the design process. He is a graduate of Boston University with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. He designed aircraft at McDonnell Douglas for five years before forming Morrelli & Melvin in 1992.

Pete has been a champion sailboat racer since his youth and has won over 25 national championships in a wide variety of dinghies, keelboats, and multihulls of all sizes. He has won three World Championships, including the 1997 and 2005 A Class Catamaran World Championships. He was the U.S. Tornado skipper at the Olympics in 1988. Pete set some speed records as a crew aboard the Morrelli & Melvin designed PlayStation.  He has been a crew member on five WSSRC sanctioned World Records.  Small or large, catamaran or trimaran, Pete is at home making them perform to their VPPs.

Sailing and Design Accomplishments

Sailing

• 25 national championships
• Three World Championships, including 1997 and 2005 A Class Catamaran World Championships
• 1988 Olympics Tornado Skipper, U.S. Olympic Team
• Has been a crew member on five WSSRC sanctioned World Record

 

Design

2012

• M&M’s Nacra 17 voted by the ISAF as the next Olympic multihull for 2016
• Leopard 44, Cruising World magazine’s 2012 Best Cruising Multihull of the Year
• Leopard 44 named SAIL magazine’s 2012 Best Cruising Multihull

2011

• Morrelli & Melvin named Yacht Designers of the Year 2011 by Asia Boating

2010

• Leopard 38 wins Cruising World 2010 Boat of the Year in two categories
• Leopard 38 / Sunsail 384 named SAIL Magazine’s 2010 Best Boat Cruising Multihull

2009

• Harborwing Technologies 1st place Security Network’s 6th Annual Security Summit for the most innovative and timely product in the Communications, Disaster Preparedness and Maritime category

2008

• F18 World Champions. 1st, 2nd, 5th, 7th, 9th places overall

2007

• Stars & Stripes Wins Key West – Sailors, sets a record of 8 hours 31 minutes 4 seconds
• M&M A3 A-Class Catamaran takes 2nd and 3rd at 2007 Worlds

2006

• Sailing World magazine Best Multihull Award won by M&M designed Reynolds 33 catamaran

2005

• National Marine Manufacturer’s Association (NMMA) presents their Innovation Award to M&M designed Moorings 4000 cruising catamaran
• Sailing World magazine “Best Performance Boat” award won by M&M designed and built A2 A class catamaran
• Ensenada Race multihull division won by M&M designed Reynolds 33″catamaran
• Cruising World magazine Best Imported Cruising Boat and Best Multihull Under 40′ award won by M&M designed Moorings 4000 cruising catamaran
• A Class Catamaran World Championship won by M&M A2 design. Built by Gino Morrelli at MM R&D and Performance Catamarans
• A Class Catamaran North American Championship won by M&M designed and built A2 A Class catamaran. Built by Gino Morrelli at MM R&D and Performance Catamarans

2004

• Round the World Sailing Record (non-stop) set by 125′ M&M designed racing catamaran Cheyenne (ex PlayStation) in 58 days 9 hours 32 minutes 45 seconds,
• National Marine Manufacturer’s Association (NMMA) presents their Innovation Award to M&M designed Windsor Craft 240
• Cruising World magazine Most Innovative Award” won by M&M designed “Gunboat 62” high performance cruising catamaran.
• Boating World magazine presents their Boat of the Month Award to M&M designed Windsor Craft 240
• A Class Catamaran North American Championship won by M&M designed A2. Built by Gino Morrelli at MM R&D

2003

• PlayStation sets a new east-west transatlantic record (Cadiz, Spain to San Salvador, Bahamas) in 9 days, 13 hours, 31 minutes.
• Genmar Holdings, Inc. presents their coveted President’s Award to M&M for the design of their new Windsor Craft 240 Champion

2002

• PlayStation sets new Round British Isles (RBI) Record.
• PlayStation sets new Plymouth to La Rochelle Record
• PlayStation sets new Cowes – Fastnet – Plymouth Record

2001

• Transatlantic Record (W-E) smashed by M&M designed PlayStation in 4 days 17 hours and 28 minutes.
• Prix de l’Architecture Navale Award presented to Gino Morrelli and Pete Melvin as the designers of the current transatlantic (New York – Lizard, England) record holding yacht (PlayStation)
• PlayStation sets new Round Isle of Wight record
• PlayStation sets new Outright 24-Hour Distance Record of 687.17 nautical miles during Transatlantic record.
• PlayStation sets new Miami to New York Record.
• 125′ Maxi Catamaran PlayStation sets Cowes (UK) to St Malo (Fr) Record of 6 hours, 21 minutes, 44 seconds

2000

• PlayStation sets new Newport, Rhode Island to Bermuda Record
• Marine News magazine Best 10 Boats Award given to M&M designed “Maui Magic” excursion power catamaran.

1999

• 105′ Maxi Catamaran PlayStation sets new Outright 24-hour Distance Record of 580.23 nautical miles.

1998

• A Class Catamaran North American Championship won by M&M Waterat design
• Stars & Stripes 60′ cat, owned by Steve Fossett, Newport-Ensenda Record 6 hours, 46 minutes, 32 seconds
• Stars & Stripes 60′ cat, owned by Steve Fossett, Chicago – Mackinac Record 18 hours, 50 minutes, 32 seconds
• M&M designed 105′ Maxi Catamaran PlayStation launched. World’s largest and fastest racing catamaran built to date
• nternational 18 Formula European Championship won by M&M designed NACRA Inter 18. At the time, the Europeans regatta was the highest ranked regatta in the world. Since 2000, the class has had an ISAF recognized World Championship regatta

1997

• Stars & Stripes 60′ cat , owned by Steve Fossett, Swiftsure Race Record, 14 hours, 35 minutes, 29 minutes
• A Class Catamaran World Championship won by M&M Waterat design. Pete Melvin was skipper

1996

• Bol D’or Regatta on Lake Geneva, Switzerland won by M&M designed radical 41′ carbon fiber racing trimaran Alinghi owned by Ernesto Bertarelli of Americas Cup fame

1994

• National Marine Manufacturer’s Association Innovation Award presented to M&M designed Hobie Wave catamaran.

1992

• Formula 20 European Championships won by M&M designed Ventilo 20 design

1991

• Little America’s Cup Challenger series won by M&M designed Freedom’s Wing C Class catamaran. M&M also helped build Freedom’s Wing and Pete Melvin was the skipper. This was M&M’s first project together.