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Bill Lee's Santa Cruz boats have been synonymous with much of the innovation in our sport. Co-creators of the ULDB concept (along with Ron Moore, George Olson, et al), the originators of the "Fast Is Fun" philosophy, (which is perhaps more alive than ever), and builders of a line of light, fast, and sturdy boats, Santa Cruz introduced a whole new flavor to the world of racing sailboats. Really, in the modern era of the sport, are there any more important boats than the two which bookend their lineup - the SC 27 and the SC 70? The 27 (along with the Moore 24) was the beginning of the small boat ULDB path, one that has been followed by a myriad of designers, and the 70 was a monumental shift of what big, light racing boats could and would become. The genius behind Santa Cruz of course was Bill Lee. A true innovator (if not perennially weird - anybody who's been on a phone conversation with Bill knows exactly what I am talking about.) with a vision and a spirit that propelled his ideas into becoming terrific boats, he helped defined the then new West Coast Love. Some of his custom work - Chutzpah, Panache, and of course the legendary Merlin, laid the groundwork for the production boats that were to follow. A few words on their production boats: You could not find better built, fair, well thought out, and reasonably priced production boats than what was built by SC. I know - I've sailed many, many miles on 27's (Hotspur, Mr. Ed); 33's (Freight Train, Fire Lock); 40's (Pronto, Pressure Cooker); 50's (Earl of Mar); 52' (Pressure Cooker); and 70's (Kathmandu, Blondie).
But it wasn't all good for Lee, however. There were a couple of misses along the way. As good as the SC 50 was, the SC 40 and SC 33 shot wide of their respective marks - the 33 because it was unduly influenced by IOR, and the 40 because well, it was a marginal design that was horribly slow in light air. The 33 was so disappointing (although I had some great races aboard "Freight Train") that one owner, the very shady and apparently very dead Mickey Lowell had his BN drive his 33, "Buena Vida," off a cliff while towing it back from a Mexican race! True story. Santa Cruz Yachts officially became all grown up with the introduction of the SC 52, which turned out to be a smashing success. But not necessarily for Lee. First of all, perhaps indicating that he wasn't quite the complete designer, he hired NA Bob Smith to design it, which seemed strange to a few of us. Smith though, drew a very good boat. I did a Transpac, a couple of Mexican races, and a whole bunch of other stuff on the SC 52 Pressure Cooker and can testify to the fact that it is an excellent boat. In my estimation, it is one of the best racer cruisers ever produced. Again, this boat was less of a success for Lee because by the time they really started to sell a lot of 52's, he no longer owned the company! Due to an unfinished custom SC70 for what turned out to be an unhappy customer and an accompanying ugly law suit, (and I'm sure a host of other factors as well), Lee was forced to bail out as principal of the company in 1995. San Diego based Paul Ely came in and bought the company at exactly the right time. Lee's misfortune was Ely's gain as the popularity of the 52 took off. The Ely family ran it and still do, but added little other than luck. The 52 was not of their doing, but they did indeed reap the benefits of the boat's popularity, with something like 28 of them built to date, and all of them at ever increasing prices. No doubt they found the 52 to be a real cash cow.
However, their lack of real boat building, designing or marketing knowledge has put Santa Cruz Yachts once again on the brink. Milking the 52, while doing little about producing an even better next boat, SCY has offered their pitiful "vision" of what their next boats should be with the SC 53c, which is little more than a 52 with a hideous looking "hard dodger". What in the hell are they thinking? Nobody wants something this ugly and obviously dated and re-treaded. By the way, we've had only one encounter with the Ely's and it was less than impressive. It was a protest of an MIR (pro) PHRF violation on the Ely's own SC 52 in Long Beach a few years ago, and while it was a clear violation of the rule, it also spoke volumes about their credibility when Ely said that he was not an MIR because he didn't make money from owning Santa Cruz Yachts. I guess he bought the company to lose money. Oh yeah, that was also the same protest that saw JJ Isler, who was steering Ely's boat, also state that she was not a paid professional. A sad day for those who mislead and outright lied, to be sure. Whatever. The other project under the Ely regime, the SC 63, of which none were built, and none are likely to, was just a big 52, with little of the modern day design advancements, not the least of which are plumb bows, modern shapes, and a proper sprit. It looked outdated the instant it hit the drafting table. This one was a huge miss.
Had this company had some vision, they could have produced something that would have been big, fast, sexy and compelling. Or they could have gone smaller with a new and perhaps better boat than, the J-120, or the J-109, or the Farr 395, or the even the Beneteau 36.7 or 40.7. But they didn't, and what they offered up has been sussed out by a smart buying community as simply not worthy of their dollars. Oh did we mention that actually the coolest thing they build (make that built - there is a grand total of one of them) is now a powerboat? It's a cool sort of retro-looking thing, but still a powerboat nonetheless. Can you imagine that? This once leading edge company has been reduced to having a powerboat as their strongest statement. Truly embarrassing. Today the used boat market has no less than six 52's, none of which are moving, and Santa Cruz Yachts finds itself with little to offer to a buying segment that has found a number of companies that produce modern, good looking, and fast racer cruisers. It just so happens that this time luck, has nothing to do with the fact that Santa Cruz Yachts is not one of them. 09/04/2002 |
