Philosophy Revolution
vs Evolution
Our philosophy is simple: We believe in creating groundbreaking designs that combine
speed, safety, strength and elegance.
We design for lifestyle with function and develop creative, luxurious, energy-efficient, fun and fast multihulls. We offer personalized services and we never impose our aesthetic on your project. We do whatever it takes to ensure they get built to your exacting specifications.
History An Indisputable
Track Record
With the right mix of leading-edge technology and a slightly irreverent attitude, Gino Morrelli and Pete Melvin have spent nearly three decades creating a cult of personality. Together, we’ve developed cool stuff, often captured in dramatic photos of hair-raising speed and foam-flying exhilaration.
Among M&M projects, you’ll find:
NACRA 17 cat that was raced in the 2016 Rio Olympics, 62- and 90-foot Gunboat designs, and PlayStation, the award-winning and record-setting 125-foot cat that was campaigned by adventurer Steve Fossett.
Other sleek speedsters include the Rapido 60 trimaran that can reach speeds in the mid-20-knot range, the TF 10 fully flying carbon 10-meter folding trimaran, and the SuperFoiler, a blazing-fast 28-footer bound for Grand Prix racing in Australia with downwind speeds in excess of 40 knots.
We’ve worked with numerous commercial vessel builders developing ferries and tenders and we’ve made a mark in the world of production multihulls in private and charter use including several designs for South African builder, Roberts & Caine and carbon-uber cats HH Catamarans. We even introduced Hobie to rotomolding and that led to the development of the Hobie Wave, one of the best selling catamarans on the market.
We regularly help rejuvenate older designs. Multiple America’s Cup teams, BMW ORACLE Racing, and multihull builder, Corsair, are among those whom we’ve helped to redesign and reconfigure existing boats.
We don’t just stick to multihull design though. We’ve been called upon as expert witnesses, we’ve lived on the edge of the newest developments in carbon infusion building techniques, we’ve investigated electric and hybrid power solutions, and we’ve even designed a carbon fiber racing Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP). It’s all in a day’s work.
THE TEAM
Depth & Breadth of Experience
Today, M&M is a complete team of highly qualified engineers, designers and naval architects all of whom lend a fresh perspective and significant energy to each and every project.
Gino Morrelli, Designer / Partner
Email: Gino@morrellimelvin.com
Gino started out working on race cars and boats in his family’s Southern California back yard as a teenager. He built his first boat with his dad and brother, a 33-foot Crowther trimaran in high school. Soon after he started his first company, Climax Catamarans, designing and building 18-square meter cats.
He has been entrenched in onshore and offshore race-boat construction efforts since the early 80’s, designing and managing the construction of a French 60′ ocean racing catamaran, multiple Formula 40’s, the 1988 Stars & Stripes America’s Cup catamaran, Bol D’or racers, Little America’s Cup C-Class cats and many racing beach catamarans. Gino raced extensively on Stars and Stripes ’88 with Dennis Connor and Steve Fossett’s Morrelli & Melvin designed 125ft cat PlayStation, setting Atlantic W-E, 24 hour, Round Britain/Ireland records, and many more.
Today Gino manages the Product Development and Yacht Sales side of our business where he helps bridge the gap between design and engineering and our production clients or custom builders. His many years of experience in racing, design, as well as on the shop floor help us design boats that are beautiful, perform well, and are practical and economical to construct.
Pete Melvin, Designer / Engineer / Partner
Email: Pete@morrellimelvin.com
Pete Melvin has been creating innovative vehicles since his youth. Not discouraged when the boat he built as a 6-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 and gaining valuable hands-on experience. He recently designed and built an innovative electric motorcycle that goes 50 miles on a single charge at up to 60 mph. His motorcycle is a test bed for lithium battery and electric propulsion systems that are increasingly finding their way onto M&M’s commercial, military, and pleasure boat designs.
Pete Melvin manages our design office and participates in all levels of the design process. He is a graduate of Boston University with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. Pete 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 US 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 VPP’s.
BS- Aerospace Engineering, Boston University
Erik Berzins / Yacht Designer
Email: Erik@morrellimelvin.com
Canadian import Erik Berzins has been living, sailing and designing sailboats in California since 2005. After completing a degree in Naval Architecture and Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia, Erik knew a lot about tug boats and cruise ships, but was much more interested in pursuing his passion for sailing. Erik teamed up with local Long Beach yacht designer, Alan Andrews to design and race performance monohulls. Jumping on opportunities to race to Hawaii, Tahiti and Cabo, Erik is now a go-to bowman in the California sailing scene.
In 2010, Erik decided to chop off the lead and take the leap to high performance multihull design at Morrelli and Melvin. Erik is in charge of project management, structural design, velocity prediction, sailing ergonomics and company morale. When not at work, Erik continues to enjoy match racing, offshore sailing, racquetball and enjoying fish burritos.
Mark Peters / Naval Architect
Email: Mark@morrellimelvin.com
Mark was born in New Jersey, but grew up hanging around the boats/docks in Kinsale, Ireland. After high school he attend a 2 year apprenticeship in traditional boat building in Rockland, Maine. This lead to job building the Schooner Virginia in Norfollk, Virginia. From there he ventured south taking a job in the Caribbean building and refurbishing yacht interiors. During his time in Caribbean he picked up a love of racing, which later turned into a job as a delivery boat skipper/race crew for a number of Caribbean racing teams. After 2 years of racing, Mark returned to university to complete a degree in Naval Architecture from the Marine Institute of Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Upon completion, he returned to boat building to help build Puma’s “Mar Mostro” at NEB for the Volvo Ocean Race. After the launch, he moved to Seattle and took a job as a Naval Architect designing carbon fiber patrol boats. When the opening arose to join the MM team, Mark jumped at the opportunity.
Mark splits his time between the California office and working abroad on various projects around the world. When he is in California, he tries to spend most of his time racing around SoCal or relaxing in Catalina.
Ferdinand van West / Naval Architect
Email: Ferdinand@morrellimelvin.com
As yacht designer and top multihull sailor, Morrelli & Melvin feels like home for the Dutchman Ferdinand. In 2012 he completed his Master of Science in Maritime Engineering, Yacht and small craft at the University of Southampton. Now he is combining his professional and sportive passions in life. Before Ferdinand got to California he worked for long-time MM client Nacra where he was working on the development of Nacra’s latest designs, namely the Olympic Nacra 17 and the Full foiling Nacra F20c FCS, where he also broaden his boat-building skills by building several prototypes.
Ferdinand is also active as a professional sailor, having sailed multiple disciplines from dinghies, 29er and the Olympic 49er, to catamarans, F18 and extreme 40 to the big boats on offshore’s and the Super Maxis, winning various National and World Championship events in all of these classes.
Andrew Bloxom / Design Engineer
Email: Andrew@morrellimelvin.com
Andrew was born in Fairfax, VA and his father was a Navy Captain and his mother’s family built ships in Pascagoula, MS. He learned the joys of gliding across the water’s surface through living in Newport, RI, Mayport, FL, and trips to his grandparent’s homes on the Rappahannock River and the Gulf Coast.
Andrew attended the Chesapeake Sailing Yacht Symposium in 2007 and quickly became fascinated by the numerical simulation of the aero/hydrodynamics of boats. After returning to school and discovering the Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes equations wouldn’t be covered in the curriculum, he initiated an undergraduate study with Professor Wayne Neu. In 2014 he completed his PhD focused on the fluid-structure interaction of SES bow seals, and packed up the wagon to head out west.
He feels very fortunate to be applying his skills in Computational Fluid Dynamics and Finite Element Analysis to multihull and composite design at M&M. His other interests include spending time exploring California with his wife Lyndsey, rockhounding/lapidary arts, and making and flying recreational kites.
Yi Chin / CAD Design & Styling
Email: Yi@morrellimelvin.com
Eric is the M&M style guru who helps new designs come to life so owners can visualize their boat long before it becomes a reality.
Since graduating from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, Eric has worked with major brand names, modeling and styling products to enhance their visual appeal and functionality. He turns basic 2D sketches and 3D block models into 3D digital visuals that can be used for stylized client renderings. The level of detail Eric creates allows clients to see minute features of their future boat for an almost-aboard type of experience. Prior to coming to M&M, Eric worked with automotive giants like Honda Powersports, Yamaha, Mitsubishi and Hyundai.
In his spare time, Eric designs 1:5 scale RC cars and messes with car parts to enhance automotive performance.
Ravi Parent / Design Engineer
Email: Ravi@morrellimelvin.com
Ravi brings significant mechanical engineering expertise to M&M and works on powerboat hydrofoil design and structural analysis.
Ravi earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering with Aerospace Concentration from Boston University and then spent a decade as a full-time elite sailing athlete representing the United States in global competitions including multiple world championships. He has served as a U.S. Sailing Development Program coach and in 2022, he was recognized as the US Sailing Rolex Yachtsman of the Year. His competitive experience runs deep with Olympic campaign management for the foiling Nacra 17 including logistics, team management and fundraising. While at M&M, Ravi has helped develop projects like the Rapido 40 trimaran, the Foilborne 40 powercat, and pontoon and tritoon foils for Hydrofin. His focus is on equipment development and testing, performance data analytics, and the optimization of foil and platform control systems.
Ravi is a U.S. Sailing-certified instructor who enjoys racing high performance sailboats and teaching sailing and speedboat handling.
Agustin Baruh / Design Engineer
Email: Agustin@morrellimelvin.com
Agustin works on FEA calculations, 2D drawings for hull lamination, and 3D models of parts, deck appendages and structural components.
Agustin received his degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Buenos Aires Institute of Technology (ITBA) and co-founded a joint laboratory between ITBA and the International Center of Numerical Methods for Engineering (CIMNE). Although his education focused on merchant ships, Agustin’s interests drifted toward sailing so he soon steered his career path in the direction of performance sailboats. Between performing VPP studies and weight analysis for his employers, Agustin participated in various sailing championships in Optimists, Lasers and J24s. He has also been instrumental in the design and engineering for the 37th America’s Cup challenger, Team Alinghi Red Bull Racing.
Agustin grew up near a river in northern Argentina where he got hooked on sailing Optimist dinghies. Today, he enjoys running, biking, sailing and wing foiling.
Rene Lange / Design Engineer
Email: Rene@morrellimelvin.com
Rene’s focus at M&M is on design and calculations for high performance multihull sailing yachts.
Rene brings nearly 20 years of experience working with shipyards and designers on projects including ULTIM trimarans, IMOCA foils, performance multihulls, and luxury motor yachts. With a degree from Ocean & Naval Architecture Memorial University in Canada, Rene takes on various challenges including guiding the construction of carbon composite components and leading projects from design to delivery. He provides detailed weight estimates, hydrostatics, and technical direction on materials, processes, and quality control. Rene’s roots in sailing run deep. His maternal grandfather was a naval navigator and taught Rene to sail on his own small sailboat. By his teenage years, Rene was an avid keelboat racer and then celebrated his 21st birthday sailing the Vic-Maui race from Canada to Hawaii.
When not at work, Rene enjoys kiteboarding, skiing, cycle touring, fishing, cooking, delving into photography and playing the violin.
Leanna Berzins / Executive Business Administrator
Email: Leanna@morrellimelvin.com
Leanna keeps the M&M office humming by managing invoicing, payroll, social media, and a wide variety of projects.
With 14 years in marketing and training, Leanna brings a wealth of promotional knowledge to the team at M&M. She earned her degree from Orange Coast College and then received her real estate license which led her to a career in property management. Leanna has managed substantial budgets, overseen impressive portfolios, and steered large teams throughout her career. Leanna’s first sailing experience was on a 70-footer, which she says was a memorable event. Today, she continues to sail locally with friends and the odd regatta thrown in. She enjoys witnessing the development of cutting-edge sailing technology and the evolution of performance boats like those designed by M&M.
Leanna is passionate about racquetball, paddle boarding, cooking, and her two dogs, Maddie and Oreo.