Santa Cruz 50
BILL LEE YACHTS · Bill Lee · 1980
Updated
The Santa Cruz 50 is a 15.58 m planing racing yacht designed by Bill Lee and built by BILL LEE YACHTS, first launched in 1980. It races in Class A.
Length
15.58 m
51′ 1″
Beam
3.68 m
Draft
2.60 m
Displacement
7.6 t
Sail area
120 m²
On the podium
Where a Santa Cruz 50 finishes when she goes racing.
Not enough data yet to show how this design finishes. It has not been found in the race results we have collected so far.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Santa Cruz 50 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
No regattas found yet.
Raced one we are missing?
Report a regattaRound the buoys, or offshore
A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.
Round the buoys
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Not enough data yet: no races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
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Not enough data yet: no races over 10 NM carry a published distance.
Who she races against
The designs a Santa Cruz 50 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Not enough data yet to say who this design races against. No result we have collected puts it on the water beside another design we track.
Speed at every angle
The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.
Upwind VMG
6.38
37°
Beam reach
10.43
90°
Broad reach
12.92
135°
Downwind VMG
10.55
170°
Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.
Where it wins and where it pays
Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.
This is a boat that wants breeze. Give it a fresh day and long legs and it delivers more than it promised; in a drifter it is working uphill.
Where it gains
Its best ground is downwind in a strong breeze, where it goes better than its measurements say it should, and by a margin worth having. It holds that advantage cracked off as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.
Where it pays
There is no condition where it falls away badly, which is worth something over a season of mixed weather.
Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.
Full width is 0.8 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the broad reach.
How fast is a Santa Cruz 50
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 4.42 | 5.80 | 6.16 | 6.38 |
| 52° | 6.77 | 8.36 | 8.68 | 8.90 |
| 60° | 7.16 | 8.63 | 8.95 | 9.20 |
| 75° | 7.46 | 8.90 | 9.34 | 9.78 |
| 90° | 7.30 | 8.96 | 9.72 | 10.43 |
| 110° | 6.94 | 8.98 | 9.87 | 10.99 |
| 120° | 6.80 | 9.10 | 10.25 | 11.70 |
| 135° | 6.04 | 8.82 | 10.37 | 12.92 |
| 150° | 5.02 | 7.75 | 9.41 | 12.18 |
| Run VMG | 4.35 | 6.71 | 8.17 | 10.55 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Nearly all carry a folding propeller. A bowsprit is standard across the fleet. Crew weight is declared around 1040 kg.
Rigging
Santa Cruz 50 rig and sail dimensions
A Santa Cruz 50 carries 16.80 m of mainsail hoist on a 5.65 m boom, a forestay 18.70 m above the deck and a 7.39 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 4 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 182 to 220 m² depending on bowsprit and set-up. Before ordering a sail, read the figure on your own measurement record rather than the typical one for the design.