suggested they use fiberglass to build the innovative, odd-looking little boat they had designed to be

built in wood. The boat became the most popular sailboat ever made of fiberglass or any other

material. It’s called the Sunfish.

In that same year, cousins Clint and Everett Pearson took a flyer and rushed to build a 28-foot Carl

Alberg design so they could display it at the New York Boat Show. They came away with 18

orders and over the next seven years built more than 700 copies of the boat that ushered in the era

of the fiberglass auxiliary, the Triton.

In the late 1960s, a couple of California surfing pals asked what if--what if a catamaran could

combine the ancient Polynesian concept of asymmetrical hulls with high-tech, lightweight, fiberglass

foam construction? The answer was an exciting 16-foot catamaran that, after 27 years, is still selling

briskly and numbers more than 100,000 worldwide. The name of the boat? Here’s your clue: One

of the surfers was a fellow named Hobie Alter.

The Sunfish, Triton and Hobie 16, three of the 12 boats now residing in the Hall, are as different

from one another as they can be, but they are virtually identical in what they accomplished: Through

the boldness and ingenuity of their creators, they made sailing better.

http://www.sailnet.com/sailing/97/f&bfeb97.htm

Welcome to the Santa Cruz 27 Web Site!

"How fast can you go in the middle of the night in 35 knots of wind and 15 foot

breaking seas? Wear your safety harness and be sure to take your spinnaker down

before mother nature does it for you."

Bill Lee

Welcome to the Santa Cruz 27 Web Site!

This site is dedicated to the unabashed worship and shameless promotion of the greatest 27 foot

sloop ever built. Why of course we are talking about the original "Fast is Fun" boat--the Bill

Lee-designed Santa Cruz 27.

Click here for Bill Lee's personal account of the Santa Cruz 27's development.

The Santa Cruz 27 is honored in the American Sailboat Hall of Fame at the Museum of Yachting in

Newport, Rhode Island, as one of the most influential yacht designs in American sailing history. For

the full story, click here.