Overview
The Santa Cruz 50 is a light, fast Bill Lee ocean racer from Santa Cruz, California, a fixture of the Pacific Cup and Transpac, built from 1980, with 28 built according to sailboatdata.com. Its place in this catalog rests on its ocean racing record: 21 different boats of the design have finished the Pacific Cup from San Francisco to Hawaii or the Newport Bermuda Race in the official results.
Design and Construction
sailboatdata.com lists the underbody as fin with spade rudder, 50 ft overall on a 46.42 ft waterline, with 12 ft of beam and 8 ft of draft. Displacement is about 16,000 lb with 8,000 lb of ballast, and the masthead sloop carries about 1,047 sq ft.
Ocean Racing Record
Octavia (Stewart Kett) finished the Pacific Cup (1986, 1996, 2000, 2002). Oaxaca (Jim Ryley) finished the Pacific Cup (1990, 1994, 1996, 1998). Rollercoaster (Ken Burnap) finished the Pacific Cup (1996, 1998, 2002). White Caps (Robert Nance) finished the Pacific Cup (2000, 2002, 2004). Other finishers include Yukon Jack, Anomaly, J World’s Hula Girl, Secret Love, Incantation, Ralphie.
The Santa Cruz 50 was a scaled-down production version of Bill Lee’s Merlin. In the 1981 Transpac, seven of the top ten finishers were Santa Cruz 50s.
