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The National C Scow Sailing Association (NCSSA) is the national organization for the C Scow supported by sailors across the country. Each year the NCSSA sponsors a championship regatta and has been doing so since 1981. The NCSSA also publishes national rankings. Any sailor can be ranked by sailing a minimum of three r egattas. There are over 19  regattas each year. Get ranked and compare your rankings against some of the best sailors in the country!

The C Scow is a dynamic boat that provides for fast, tactical, and fun racing. The C Scow origins date back to 1906 in the midwest. There are now over 70 inland lakes across the United States with fleets.  

The mission of the NCSSA is to promote and grow the C Scow fleet. Come join us and start sailing a C Scow!

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Sail1Design

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November 30, 1999 by Sail1Design Editor 2 Comments

The one-design C Scow class created by Johnson Boatworks of White Bear Lake, Minnesota began sailing in 1905.  Original, the boat and masts were made of wood and the gaffe-rigged mainsails were made of cotton.  Through the years, hull shapes and materials have changed, but the critical formula remains the same: One hull, one large sail, two bilge-boards, and one helluva ride!

Until 1981, a total crew weight of 475 lbs during racing was strictly enforced.  Today, there are no such restrictions, but the magic number for total crew weight remains around 500 lbs in the heaviest of winds, and less weight in lighter conditions.

Reader Interactions

July 16, 2018 at 22:51

Your photo seems to show a boat with a jib and pointed bow. Is this a C Scow?

July 20, 2018 at 15:34

Hi Thanks! When we migrated the site to a new system some photos were lost and stock photos replaced them. Fixed!

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• Digital Edition

5 new sailing scows aimed at the cruising market

• Toby Heppell
• October 25, 2023

There has been a raft of new sailing scows announced this year, with the cruising market following the racing world in design philosophy

Those who followed the early stages of this year’s Rolex Fastnet Race will surely have been intrigued by how well the front runners in the Class 40 fleet appeared to handle the brutal wind against tide conditions that caused problems for a lot of other boats. Conventional wisdom has it that a slim, narrow hull is ideal for sailing upwind in a blow. Yet the recent Class 40s carry their immense beam well forward of the mast, with a bow that’s closer to a square shape than a conventional point.

However, when heeled these boats present a relatively narrow immersed section that doesn’t slam into a head sea with the intensity that the flat saucer-like hull might suggest. At the same time they have enormous righting moment, which gives power to punch over big waves and reduces the total time spent sailing to windward. This stability is also an important factor in the boats’ behaviour in strong gusts: an increase of wind that would have many of the rest of us scrabbling for another reef is often handled simply by depowering the top of the mainsail with a bit more twist.

Although this hull form has only been in existence for little more than a decade, since David Raison won the 2011 Mini Transat in a boat of his own design, it has quickly gained traction across the Mini 6.50, Class 40 and IMOCA 60 fleets. It’s now increasingly appearing in designs for cruising yachts, which also have potential to offer considerably more internal volume than other vessels of a similar length.

Skaw Paradise

The Skaw Paradise is a very beamy 11.3m foiling scow bow cruiser with its roots firmly in the racing scene, but with the concepts reworked to produce an ultimate cruiser. Skaw CEO and founder Benoit Marie is also technical director, coach and co-skipper (when racing double-handed) for Caroline Boule, who’s notched up a string of impressive results in the Mini 6.50 class this season in her full flying Sam Manuard-designed Nicomatic.

Marie co-designed the Skaw Paradise with naval architect Clément Bercault of Berco Design. “We could not find any boat on the market suiting our needs, so we started designing our own perfect boat,” he says.

“It’s one to take our friends and family around the world to unseen places, in the safest, easiest and fastest manner.”

The Skaw Paradise differs to Nicomatic in that it has fully retractable C-foils that are intended to act like motion dampeners, giving a smoother ride, while also increasing both stability and speed. While much is borrowed from the racing world, this boat has been simplified as much as possible, so it’s not complicated to sail.

SailScow 37

Much of the drive towards scow bow cruising yachts is driven by top level racing sailors. Armel Tripon, who raced the then radical Sam Manuard-designed IMOCA 60 L’Occitane de Provence in the 2020 Vendée Globe, has lent his name to the SailScow brand that’s working on a range of four designs from 28-42ft.

“The hull I was able to test racing around the globe delighted me,” says Tripon. “I can easily imagine myself cruising on a scow to take full advantage of the sailing performance, the ease of passage through the sea and the incredible comfort at anchor – I can’t wait to try it out.”

The first SailScow model is a 37ft cruiser designed by Gildas Plessis, a strong advocate of this hull shape. It’s primarily of marine ply and epoxy and offers a step change in internal space compared to other yachts of this length. Options include a four cabin layout, with two doubles forward, both with rectangular beds, while aft there’s a further double, plus a twin cabin with bunk beds. Alternatively there’s space for a giant owner’s cabin forward, plus one aft double port and a generous technical and stowage area to starboard.

VPLP Fast Cruising Scow

PLP’s carbon Fast Cruising Scow is a 40ft concept that aims to maximise both performance and comfort. It has a covered and glazed saloon/cockpit area like those found on cruising catamarans. On the same level as the working areas of the cockpit, it provides shelter from sun and water both when used as a dining area and as a watch keeping zone on passage.

Air draught a fraction over 20m (67ft) helps provide a big rig that will produce plenty of power, while retractable foils will reduce heel angles thanks to the righting moment they generate, at the same time as cushioning the passage of the boat through waves.

Breton yard IDB Marine was one of the forerunners in producing a cruising boat based on a scow bow design. The Mojito 650 uses the same extreme scow bow hull as the phenomenally successful David Raison-designed Maxi 650 that won the series division of the last Mini Transat race, taking five of the top nine places.

The Mojito 650 is a detuned boat with a new coachroof that gives a panoramic view, plus a six-berth interior with a full-size rectangular double bed forward. There’s also plenty of stowage and all that’s lacking compared to many significantly larger craft is standing headroom and a separate heads compartment. A smaller and simplified rig compared to that of the Maxi 650 makes this an easy boat to sail and a lot less tweaky than the original, yet it’s still one that will happily plane at speeds well into double digits and hold its own upwind against boats 10ft longer.

La Rochelle-based RM Yachts has been forging a different path to mainstream yards for more than 30 years with its range of distinctive fast plywood/epoxy performance cruisers. The latest model – a sixth generation RM designed by Marc Lombard, is directly influenced by today’s raceboats, with the aim of producing a spacious, fast and dry 36-footer that can cover long distances at fast average speeds.

“It offers greater safety, more interior and exterior space and greater ease of movement,” says lead designer Eric Levet. “The hull is powerful and voluminous but not excessively so at the bow, for a good passage through the waves.”

The first example is scheduled to start construction in January next year and is expected to be afloat in July 2024.

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In Good Company with the MC Scow

• By Dave Powilson
• Updated: October 19, 2021

When Scott Harestad describes sailing MC Scows, his eyes light up with the expectation of a kid on Christmas morning. You can almost feel the exuberance. “The acceleration in the puffs is just amazing!” he says gesturing outward, his face slightly reddening with excitement and eyes widening like he’s suddenly been transported onto a wild reach on some distant lake. His speech quickens, and he shifts his weight from one foot to the other. “And,” quickly catching a breath, “you’re constantly working the controls—cunningham, vang and mainsheet—to keep it there.” Then he’s suddenly on dry land again and just as quickly asks, “Have you sailed one?”

I have, so he pivots to Jen Edney, our photographer, who is standing nearby.

“How about you? Ever sail an MC?”

And before Edney has a chance to finish saying she hasn’t, he’s at work, trying to set up a time and place to make it happen.

Harestad is no fly-by-night MC Scow proselytizer. He’s earned his stripes through 40 years of participation and is on his fourth boat. From Spring Lake, Michigan, Harestad travels a lot, living by the adage “you go to their regatta and they’ll come to yours.” And as current class president, he’s eager to tick off the latest class success stories to anyone who will listen. Recently, he notes, they have five active sailmakers and a New Jersey fleet that’s blossomed from five boats to 30 in a year and a half. And now, at the class’s 50th Anniversary National Championship held at Clear Lake, Iowa, where there’s 119 boats, is a class record.

Anniversary regattas are nothing new in the one-design ­sailing landscape, but only a few draw such big fleets. When that happens, it’s not just a testament to longevity, but also a ­barometer of the class’s future. The MC has come a long way from its first national championship, held in early October 1971 in Shreveport, Louisiana. That event—won by hull No. 10—drew a dozen sailors, all with wide-eyed optimism about the future of this new Melges-designed scow. Andy Burdick is the president of Melges Performance Sailboats and holder of a Tom Brady-like record of 12 MC national titles. He says: “It wasn’t until the 1980s and ‘90s that production numbers started to get really big—over 100 MCs a year. Lately, it’s averaged around 50 a year.”

Still, that’s a number most classes can only envy.

Part of the MC’s success lies with the Melges traveling road show, where a trailer would be loaded up at the factory in Zenda, Wisconsin, and the driver would be given marching orders not to come back until the trailer was empty. It worked. There are now more than 2,800 MCs, with 662 of them holding class ­memberships—up from 574 in 2020.

As another indicator of the class’s well-being, if you want a new boat, the going wait is three months. And good used boats are rare as hens’ teeth. In fact, at the championship’s Saturday-night annual meeting, Harestad pushed the idea that everyone should buy new boats so the market would get an injection of affordable used boats. The demand is certainly there, and the boats hold their value, so why not? Dan Allen from Clear Lake, who has a new boat on order, sold his boat right after the regatta for just a few hundred dollars less than he bought it for six years ago.

Designed as a scaled-down, simplified version of the C Scow, the MC (the “M” is for Melges) is basic: a three-stayed rig and only five sail controls—mainsheet, traveler, cunningham, outhaul and vang. It’s easy to transport on a small trailer and simple to rig. It’s the least expensive of the Melges scows and, because it’s not sailed flat, is easier to hike on than most dinghies. Consequently, the class continues to draw a lot of master sailors. Witness the 2020 Masters National Championship, which drew 109 boats, also held at Clear Lake.

The class, however, is doing well at attracting racers from the opposite end of the age spectrum. “Some of the kids coming out of the junior program seem to feel that this is an old person’s boat,” says Dan Quiram from Pewaukee Lake, “but then they try a C Scow, which takes a lot of strength, and quickly realize this is a great boat for them.”

More than a half-dozen youth skippers are sprinkled into the 50th anniversary fleet.

Conceived as a singlehander, MC sailors regularly bring a crew aboard, especially when the wind is above 10 knots. In fact, unless you’re well over 200 pounds, you probably need to have a crew to be competitive when the wind’s up. The ideal total weight in a breeze is 210 to 380, which means it works well for a lot of husband-wife and parent-child teams.

The crew option has also been a great promotional tool. “I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve taken people with me on the MC who’ve never sailed before because all they really have to do is switch sides when we tack or jibe,” Burdick says. “They can get involved as much as they like with the sail controls and boards. I’ve seen a lot of people get into the sport just because they’ve gone for that ride.”

One case in point is Annie Samis, a 14-year-old junior sailor from Chicago, whose background includes Optis and Lasers. Never having sailed an MC, she was convinced to put her name on the 2021 Nationals crew list and was paired with Richard Blake, from the Hoover Sailing Club in Ohio. She got a chance to first sail with him in the practice race, but it didn’t take her long to get hooked.

“It’s so much fun!” she gushes with the enthusiasm of a high-school cheerleader. Samis and Blake already have plans to sail in a future Nationals as well as at the Hoover SC. As a bonus, her name was drawn in the raffle at the Saturday-night party that produced five winners of new sails, one from each of the class’s sailmakers—not a bad way to enter the class. The five sailmakers donated the sails, and raffle proceeds went to Clear Lake Youth Sailing.

Although the controls are basic, the MC is a bit like a saxophone—easy to play, but difficult to play really well. Excellence can sometimes take years. Maybe that’s why some of the best in the fleet are those who’ve been at it the longest—those in the masters, grand masters and mega masters groups. Almost 70 percent of the 2021 Nationals fleet were masters.

Quiram started racing MCs when he was 21, and at the time, he says, he thought to himself, “‘I hate those old masters bastards!’ Then I became a master, and I said, ‘I hate those old grand masters bastards!’ And now I’m an old grand master.”

There are also idiosyncrasies unique to scows. Former Finn sailor Andy Casy from Oklahoma says: “It’s challenging because you have a leeboard going out at one angle and the mast at another angle, and you have to get the right dynamics going to make it all work. You can have two boats in the same wind, and one will be 15 degrees higher than the other, just because that boat has ­everything working right.”

Matt Fisher points to the challenge of a blunt bow and big ­mainsail. “It can be a tough boat to sail downwind in a big breeze, as it’s easy to submarine the bow,” he says. “You have to go more by the lee than you’d think and really work to steer around the waves.”

Still, as Dan Wilson from Indianapolis points out, there’s a wide range of abilities at regattas. “No matter where you are,” he says, “you can find a group to race against at your level.”

The MC has one builder, Melges, which has been the case since the beginning, except for a period in the 1980s and ‘90s when Johnson Boatworks began building them, but it went out of business in 1998. Having one builder has added stability to the class, something highly valued in most one-designs.

There have been subtle changes over the years, such as the ­addition of a mast-base pivot plate, which allows one person to raise the mast instead of two. And from around 2010 through 2017, Melges produced a sealed-cockpit version, in part to minimize the amount of water in the boat when capsized. The builder then went back to the open-cockpit layout but removed the aft deck, which, among other things, made it easier to roll and store the sail. “Melges has been good at responding to what we want,” Harestad says, “and that’s been a real plus.”

Admit it or not, there’s more to a regatta than just the racing. Iowa’s Clear Lake YC proved this over a three-day national championship that was never completed, thanks to a rotation of no wind, rain, severe winds and thunderstorms. On this particular weekend, sailboat racing throughout the Midwest encountered similar conditions. Up north, A Scows were skunked on the first day of their US Nationals on Wisconsin’s Pewaukee Lake, eventually getting in four races over the next two days, and Chicago fleets racing on Lake Michigan reported tornadoes. For the purely race-centric, the apocalypse was surely at hand.

But from a broader perspective, the MC Scow 50th Anniversary event demonstrated resiliency to uncooperative weather and the ability to still chalk up a win of sorts, presenting a model for how to do a lot with just a little. While the weather allowed completion of just one race (the class minimum is three for a championship), the emphasis Clear Lake YC had placed on the nonracing side was the regatta equivalent of a winning lotto ticket.

Understand that this is no large yacht club, neither in numbers nor size—the 150 members occupy a small building on the site of a former Jaycee’s bathhouse at the base of Main Street. The building blends in well with the lakefront, evoking a late 19th or early 20th century railroad station, complete with wide roof overhangs around the perimeter. Founded in 1935 by “Cookie” Cook and a few others, it’s on public property, which makes it accessible for junior sailing lessons. There’s one ramp and a single dock with three fingers. Membership is $170 a year. Juniors are free. That the club’s volunteers pulled off the logistics of managing 105 visiting boats plus the home boats is nothing short of remarkable. Certainly, there was a ton of work, but they take it all with a dose of Midwestern modesty.

“We started organizing this right after the masters championship here last September,” says Stu Oltrogge, the event’s co-chair, “so we had the highway basically already built.”

Oltrogge’s wife, Judy, recruited 55 volunteers to handle the onshore activities—meals, registration, etc.—while another 25 took care of launching, haul-out and spectator boats. That’s a ­considerable volunteer corps given the size of the membership.

Clear Lake is just over 5 miles long, and the racing area at the south end of the lake is 2 miles in diameter, with an average water depth of 12 feet. It’s unique in that the water level is 100 feet higher than the surrounding area, which, in normal times, should increase the chances of good winds. Apart from sailing, Clear Lake is most known for the Surf Ballroom, where, in 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper last performed before their plane crashed a few miles outside of town. While those musicians put Clear Lake on the map, it’s a vibrant, iconic Midwestern town with lots of activities every week, ranging from concerts at the lakeside band shell, to boat tours on a stern-wheeler, to farmers markets on Main Street.

There was also an intentional effort by Clear Lake YC to keep this event “small town.” “We decided we wanted to put groups of folks all around the lake,” says Mark Tesar, Oltrogge’s co-chair counterpart, “having them stay with host families or at an Airbnb.” Such a move was in part a muted response to lingering pandemic concerns, but also just a large dose of Iowan hospitality. The result was a handful of encampments of sorts. For instance, 13 Michigan sailors stayed at the unique “Pyramid House” along the lake’s north shore, a crew that included three national champions.

And then there was “the Compound,” where I was lucky enough to land a spot. I’m not sure whether it was a group of three houses based around three docks full of scows or whether it was three docks full of scows based around three houses. Either way, Mark Tesar, his brother Todd, and Mr. and Mrs. Oltrogge opened up their homes to MC sailors and made it available as a base for other boats. With plenty of food, beverages and shade on the porches, it would be tough to find a nicer place to hang out when the wind doesn’t materialize. With 17 MC Scows in front of their houses, there were more one-designs than you might see in front of a lot of YCs.

With visiting as well as local boats in the water and on vacant hoists along their docks, one could be sailing in less than 10 minutes and efficiently to the race area. Even better, with the racing area so close at hand, box lunches were available each morning at Clear Lake YC for people to take to their lodgings, and the plan was to sail a couple of races in the morning, come in for lunch, then sail an afternoon race. It was all very civilized.

Each private home, like most along any inland lake, has the requisite lakeside deck ringed with chairs and chaise-style lounges, with coolers readily at hand, and those became the hangouts during nonracing times, which meant they got a lot of use at this year’s event.

No doubt, the MC 50th Nationals will go down in class history as the regatta that wasn’t. Yet it was an opportunity for those who hadn’t seen each other since pre-pandemic days to reconnect—a reunion of sorts. So, it certainly was a regatta for the sailors looking to visit after a year of COVID-19 social denial. For Todd Tesar, it all felt normal. “We usually travel to a lot of the lakes around here and see the same guys all the time,” he says. “We stay at their homes; they stay at ours; we go to their weddings.”

Cam McNeil, who decisively won the event’s one and only race, says, “Despite the lack of races, it was still great to see old friends and meet new people.”

And that really is what this particular national championship is all about—gathering with friends, in honor of a beloved boat that loves you back.

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Support / One-design deck layouts

C Scow Deck Layout

The C Scow has a big, big main that needs constant adjustment to keep the boat on its rail. It needs blocks that are strong, light, and efficient under load. The 4:1 mainsheet system is made up of 57 mm Carbo T2 blocks and a 75 mm ratchet that sheets off the backbone.

Being able to easily control the camber of the main and the twist of the leach makes all the difference in boat speed, making the cunningham one of the most important controls on a fully-battened mainsail like the Nacra 17. This system uses a combination of Carbo, T18, and high-strength blocks for an 8:1 double-ended system that can be reached from either tack. Two Carbo pivoting lead blocks (headknockers) on each side of the mast swing side-to-side, enabling crew to easily adjust the cunningham from either side of the boat.

With its rotating mast, its large main, and a deck that extends well behind the mast, the C Scow requires a very powerful vang. The vang is attached to a Small Boat high-load curved-race traveler car on a U-shaped track. All the purchase of this highly-loaded vang is belowdeck and out of the way of the crew.

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Class History

The C scow is highly maneuverable, furiously fast, and a ton of fun. It has been an intergenerational fixture on the inland lakes for well over 100 years. Cat-rigged, and flat-bottomed, this tactical 20-footer features two bilge boards and sails fastest heeled at an angle of 25 degrees. A large single rudder handles maneuvers. The C is raced with two, or three in a blow. For optimum performance, combined crew weights should never exceed 475 pounds.

Melges Boat Works, Zenda, Wisconsin, offers a complete line of these kings of the inland lakes: C, E, A, MC, 17 and X Boat.

Links McLube™ C Scow Class

Boat Specifications

Length: 20 ft (6.096 m) Beam: 6 ft 9 in (2.057 m) Weight: 650 lb (294.835 kg) Main: 216 sq ft (20.067 sq m) Crew: 2-3

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• Sailboat Guide

2000 Melges C Scow

• Description

Seller's Description

National Regatta winning C-Scow well maintained currently at Melges Boat Works. Lake Maxinkuckee boat with new fiberglass and gel coat work completed. New sidestays, forestay, and new bailers. Newer UK sails along with older North sails included. Just returned from Zenda, WI Trailer in good condition with working lights.

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

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A Scow History

J.O. Johnson, Boat Builder J.O. Johnson was born in Norway in 1875, and orphaned at a very young age.  He was sent off to live with relatives.  At age 14, he worked as a galley boy on a mail and freight delivery schooner up and down the coast.  His future employer, Gus Amundson, while on a visit to his homeland, offered Johnson a job if he ever came to the United States.  In 1893, when he was 18 years old, J.O. Johnson came to his new home in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

The Early Days For 2 years, J.O. worked for Amundson, building rowboats and traditionally styled displacement sailboats for the inland lakes of Minnesota, but he was more fascinated with boat design than he was with construction.  He was convinced that the displacement sailboats offered too much resistance and began designing a radically different type of sailboat; one that would ride on top of the water, instead of plowing through it.  He proposed this new design to Amundson, who would not hear of it.  If Johnson wanted to build such a boat, he would have to do it on his own time and in his own shop. 

One afternoon, while conversing with one of Amundson’s customers, Johnson “leaked” his idea.  This customer agreed to foot the bill for this new design, just for the fun of putting one over on his friends at the White Bear Yacht Club, the exclusive domain of some of Minnesota’s wealthiest sailors.

The Birth of the “Inland Scow” Overnight, J.O. Johnson became self-employed.  He rented a building on the site where the White Bear Boat Works would stand for over 100 years, and started work on his new design.  At that time, he didn’t know how to draft plans, and this new boat turned out to be 38 feet long with square ends and a centerboard.  Unlike the other deep-hulled, heavy ballasted boats usually raced in inland waters, Johnson’s scow had a radical dish design so it could skim across the top of the water.  A centerboard provided stability. 

When the Yacht Club called one of their regularly scheduled races in 1896, and with a minimum of preparation, Johnson entered his new design.  Johnson’s boat looked so different that all his friends laughed and teased him saying, “It looks like a slice of bread” and “It looks like a scow”.  This jeering was short-lived, however, as the Johnson Scow not only lapped the fleet, but was home with the sails down by the time the second place boat crossed the finish line.

This invention was the first sailing scow.  It became the heart of a family business which Johnson established within a block of the Amundson Boat Works.  His old boss became his competitor, but they remained lifelong friends.

Impressed by Johnson’s victory and apparent foresight, C. Milton Griggs, a wealthy sailing enthusiast living on Manitou Island in White Bear Lake, rendered Johnson enough financing to produce another boat.  By the turn of the century, Johnson offered the sailing world a 38 foot, flat bottomed scow, named the “Minnezitka” with a profile as “low as the waves themselves”.  The Minnezitka was sleek and narrow with an impressive mast, and yards of sail.  She racked up victory after victory.  The Minnezitka became the predecessor of the legendary Class A Scow that we still race today.

The Johnson Scow became the talk of the inland sailing fraternity.  Orders for more scows came in and Johnson started hiring men to help him.  By 1904, the Johnson Boat Works of White Bear Lake was in full production, and J.O. Johnson was recognized as one of the top designers of sailboats for racing on inland lakes.  In the early 1900s, a 32-foot, Class B Scow became popular, along with the 20-foot, cat-rigged C Scow.  Several of these Class B boats were shipped to Montreal, Canada for international races during prohibition.  When they returned, they were secretly packed with liquor for the “deprived” White Bear yachtsmen.

The last wooden A scow built for Jack Pillsbury of Lake Minnetonka rolled out of the Johnson shop in the spring of 1963. She was named XXXX, presumably after the Pillsbury flour brand carrying the same emblem, but her owner was heard to say that it was the only name that spelled the same right side up or up side down. Pillsbury went on to win the ILYA Championship with the boat. Remarkably, this boat is still racing today and has been completely restored and fitted with a carbon mast and boom and a bow sprit. It is owned by Fletcher Driscoll of the White Bear Yacht Club and Steve Johnson, J.O.’s grandson is the helmsman. J.O. Johnson passed away in 1963 at the age of 88, but his legacy lives on. He went on to create several classes of scows after the A scow, but none were longer or carried more sail area than his early design.

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Copyright 2018-2019 National Class A Scow Association, All Rights Reserved.

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THE MELGES A SCOW

THE ULTIMATE RIDE.

With six to seven crew, the A Scow is the fastest and largest of the Melges Scow family. Nothing compares to its century of heritage, delivering a combination of raw power, speed and performance unmatched in one-design sailing. A true classic, the A Scow is monumental to watch, not to mention powerful to race.

• Custom foil rudders and mast stepping pole for simple rig setup
• Superior deck board configurations for increased crew comfort
• New user-friendly trailer is easy to tow, rig and maneuver around the club

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One-Design Class Type: Dinghy

Was this boat built to be sailed by youth or adults? Both

Approximately how many class members do you have? 30

Photo Credit:

Photo Credit: One van der Wal / melges.com

About National Class A Scow Association

The 38 foot Class A Scow was the first scow designed and built by J.O. Johnson of Johnson Boat Works in 1895 in White Bear Lake, Minnesota USA. The boats were originally built of wood, but transitioned to fiberglass hulls in the 1980’s. Carbon fiber spars, foil-shaped rudders and transition to an asymmetrical spinnaker with bow sprit was completed in the late 1990’s.

The boat has dual rudders and dual bilgeboards (no fixed keel) and therefore requires a crew of six or seven to keep her upright in a blow. The A Scow is now built in Zenda, WI by Melges Performance Sailboats – the fastest and largest of the Melges Scow family. With over a century of heritage, delivering a combination of raw power, speed and performance unmatched in one-design sailing the A Scow is a true classic. A full length feature film documentary called “The Ultimate Ride” was released in 2006. Gary Jobson remarked on the class in this article: https://www.sailingworld.com/racing/ultimate-ride-indeed/

Boats Produced: Records are sketchy, but there have been several dozen built over over the past 125 years. There are probably 40-50 active boats with most of them racing at this time.

Class boat builder(s):

Melges Performance Sailboats P.O. Box 1 N598 Zenda Road Zenda, Wisconsin 53195 USA

Phone +1 262 275 1110 Fax +1 262 275 8012

Email [email protected]

Approximately how many boats are in the USA/North America? Almost all the boats are in North America. There are perhaps 3 in Europe and 1 in Australia that we have heard of.

Where is your One-Design class typically sailed in the USA? List regions of the country:

Typically in the upper Midwest of the USA (Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan) but races have been held in the east and in Texas.

Does this class have a spinnaker or gennaker? Yes

How many people sail as a crew including the helm?  6 or 7

Ideal combined weight of range of crew:  1100 – 1500 lbs

Boat Designed in  1895

Length (feet/inches): 38′ (11.582 m)

Beam: 8’3″ (2.515 m)

Weight of rigged boat without sails: 1,850 lbs (839.146 kg)

Draft: ~6′ with bilgeboard fully extended

Mast Height: 40′

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