My beloved DeathMobile (Santa Cruz 27 #31) has been sold. There were several factors, not the least of which was my decision to get practical and buy a house. I will miss the boat; it's one of the nicest sailing boats I've ever steered. But my next boat is going to have standing headroom and a head, minimum. I want to go cruising, too.
DeathMobile is a Santa Cruz 27, designed and built by Bill Lee in Santa Cruz, California. The SC27 was one of the first production ULDBs (Ultra-Light Displacement Boat) designed and built in the early 1970s during the heyday of the genre. By today's "sports boat" standards it is more like moderate displacement, but the SC27 is a true blue-water, deep-ocean boat capable of withstanding just about anything the sea can throw her way. The characteristics of the SC27 are a long length, narrow beam, low freeboard, moderate sail plan with a large foretriangle, and light displacement. The lines are clean and fair which makes for a slippery shape with a "flexible" top speed. The design's heritage includes Merlin, holder of the record for the Los Angeles to Honolulu Transpac Race for 20 years (1977 - 1997.) The boat loves plenty of wind from astern and a nice swell to ride down.
To see the complete Santa Cruz 27 story, check it out as described by the Wizard himself, Bill Lee, on his own website.
DeathMobile was purchased in June, 1995, from the Orange Coast College Foundation by myself, Scott Truesdell. She was in bad need of repair and I spent all of June, July, August, and September effecting repairs to the hull (there were several bad holes), deck, interior, and rigging. She is now seaworthy and is turning out to be a fast fun boat.
The name DeathMobile was taken from the movie "Animal House". The
bad-boy Delta fraternity built a float for the homecoming parade
which initially looked like a giant cake and was called
"Eat Me". Halfway into the parade, the cake
facade broke away to reveal the black, sinister-looking
"DeathMobile". It is in this spirit of renegade good fun that my boat
gets her name.
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The new boat owner!
Click icon to see full-screen picture. |
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DeathMobile sailing deep and fast through smooth water at the 1996 Midwinters Regatta, Long Beach, CA. | |
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DeathMobile sailing out the Newport Harbor entrance with her 20-year-old "cruising" dacron. |
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Another shot sailing out the breakwater. |
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