Harry “Buddy” Melges Jr., Class of 1948, earned 6 varsity letters while attending Lake Geneva High School. He earned 3 varsity letters in football and 3 varsity letters in basketball. However, it is in the sport of sailing where Buddy truly made a name for himself. He is considered one of the most successful and respected sailors in the history of the sport. Buddy is perhaps best known internationally as the winning helmsman of Bill Koch’s America’s Cup yacht America3, which successfully defended the America’s Cup in 1992. He has won two Olympic medals (Bronze, Flying Dutchman Class, 1964; Gold, Soling Class, 1972) and more than 60 national and international sailing championships and iceboating titles. He is a 2001 inductee to the America’s Cup Hall of Fame, 2004 inductee to the Inland Lake Yachting Association Hall of Fame, 2007 inductee to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame, 2011 inductee to the National Sailing Hall of Fame and a 2015 inductee to the World Sailing Hall of Fame. Buddy currently resides in Fontana, Wisconsin and is married to Gloria, has one daughter, Laura, and two sons, Harry and Hans.
Buddy Melges was inducted into the Badger Wall of Fame in 2018.