Santa Cruz 70
BILL LEE YACHTS · Bill Lee · 1985
Updated
The Santa Cruz 70 is a 20.70 m planing racing yacht designed by Bill Lee and built by BILL LEE YACHTS, first launched in 1985. It races in Class 0. Across the measured fleet it goes better than its own numbers promise, ahead of 99% of the designs it races against.
Goes better than its own measurements promise, and does it better than 99% of the boats it races against.
1st of 11 in its class.
Updated — First Race Edge for this design. Enough boats of this design have now been measured to rank it. It is strongest in medium air.
Not verified. On planing hulls this score has no match in the race results we hold: designs scoring the same win anywhere from one race in ten to seven in ten. Read it as what the measurements say, not as a ranking.
Length
20.70 m
67′ 11″
Beam
4.59 m
Draft
2.97 m
Displacement
10.9 t
Sail area
202 m²
On the podium
Where a Santa Cruz 70 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 70 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 70 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
6.72
40°
Beam reach
12.08
90°
Broad reach
14.88
135°
Downwind VMG
11.70
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 design earns its keep off the wind. A course with long free legs suits it better than a windward-leeward.
Where it gains
Its best ground is on a reach when the breeze is soft, where it does more than its size and sail area promise, and by a margin worth having. It holds that advantage off the wind as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.
Where it pays
It falls short upwind once it pipes up, giving away time it never gets back. That is a hull that wants to get up and go, and needs pressure to do it.
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 1.0 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the beam reach.
How fast is a Santa Cruz 70
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 4.88 | 6.11 | 6.51 | 6.72 |
| 52° | 7.58 | 9.14 | 9.63 | 9.82 |
| 60° | 8.13 | 9.62 | 10.06 | 10.30 |
| 75° | 8.65 | 10.15 | 10.68 | 11.16 |
| 90° | 8.62 | 10.40 | 11.20 | 12.08 |
| 110° | 7.71 | 10.12 | 11.47 | 13.09 |
| 120° | 7.19 | 10.16 | 11.76 | 13.59 |
| 135° | 6.41 | 9.70 | 11.62 | 14.88 |
| 150° | 5.32 | 8.37 | 10.38 | 13.51 |
| Run VMG | 4.61 | 7.25 | 9.02 | 11.70 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Nearly all carry a folding propeller. Crew weight is declared around 1250 kg.
Rigging
Santa Cruz 70 rig and sail dimensions
A Santa Cruz 70 carries 19.94 m of mainsail hoist on a 7.88 m boom, a forestay 22.19 m above the deck and a 7.75 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 8 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 210 to 247 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.