Overview
The Santa Cruz 52 is a Bill Lee design built by Santa Cruz Yachts in California from 1992; 29 were built. It was designed for comfortable extended cruising or ocean racing, and the fleet’s race record bears that out: Santa Cruz 52s have won their divisions in the Pacific Cup from San Francisco to Hawaii several times.
Design and Construction
Lee used Kevlar for strength and balsa for lightness and bonded the furniture into the hull as structure. The boat is light for its length at about 21,000 lb, with 9,100 lb of ballast in a 9 ft fin, or a 7 ft shoal keel. Many owners have fitted a higher-aspect rudder. Sailing Magazine reports the hull is blister-resistant materials over a vacuum-bagged balsa core, with a watertight Kevlar-mat collision bulkhead in the bow. Spars are anodized aluminum, with carbon fiber an option. The cockpit has a big wheel on a raised helm station and an open transom, with seats that double as lockers.
Under Sail
Owners report boat speed equal to wind speed upwind in 7 knots of breeze. Neal notes the hull pounds upwind. The capsize screen value of 2.03 reflects the light, beamy hull. Owner Skip Ely told Sailing Magazine that in heavy wind she sails upwind with comfort exceeding heavier cruising boats such as Swans, and that he keeps her at 5 or 6 knots when the boat wants to go eight and pound. Sailing Magazine adds that she surfs smoothly downwind with spinnakers in a heavy breeze.
Buyers Notes
Early boats are now about thirty years old; check the cored laminate and rig, and what electronics, electric winches and other upgrades have been added, which affect value.
Below are a wide-open saloon with 6 ft 4 in of headroom, two private cabins, two heads, port and starboard pilot berths and a nav station with a full-size chart table. The galley has a three-burner LPG stove with oven and broiler and an 8-cubic-foot refrigerator/freezer. The boat carries 143 gallons of fresh water and 86 gallons of fuel, and power is a 62 hp Yanmar 4JH2-HTBE.
