Design and Construction
Lee's SC70 is a study in rule-aware performance hull shaping. The manufacturer described the approach as blending the fast things they knew about performance as gracefully as possible with the IOR rule — no bumps, no hollows, just maximum waterline, maximum power to carry sail, minimum wetted surface, and instant boat speed anchor. The hull measures 68 feet overall on a 62-foot waterline, with a 15-foot-1-inch beam and a 9-foot draft, displacing 24,000 pounds against 9,600 pounds of lead ballast. Period review put the displacement-to-length ratio near 59.6 and the sail-area-to-displacement ratio at 20.36, figures consistent with a boat built to accelerate rather than lug.
Structurally, the builder claimed standard construction as bi-directional E-glass skins over a balsa core with AME 4000 acrylic-modified epoxy resin, with hulls, decks, rudders, and keels built to up-to-date scantlings anchor. A USCG Sub T version was offered for passenger-service yachts, and the full array of exotics — S-glass, Kevlar, graphite, Spectra 900, lightweight foam or Nomex cores, and epoxy — was available for owners wanting less weight. The nineteen boats were all optimized a little differently to each owner's wishes, so no two are precisely identical in outfitting.
Rig and Handling
As a masthead sloop the SC70 carries roughly 1,555 square feet of sail area, and the manufacturer classed her among the ULD 70 raters, calling her the maximum performer of that new breed. Victories in the Cal Cup, the St. Francis Big Boat Series, and recent Mexican races were cited as evidence of her blazing boat speed, and the builder claimed she easily does a horizon job on what used to be thought of as fast yachts in heavy wind, light wind, upwind, and downwind anchor. The period review made the contrast concrete: while a typical IOR 70-rater such as Kialoa would have been an upwind freight train, the SC70 would blow it away off the wind. Good freeboard was cited as keeping the crew dry, and the builder also pointed to high speed under power and maximum passage making under sail as part of the design brief.
Accommodations
Although bred for the race course, the SC70 was promoted as suitable for high-performance cruising when not racing. The builder noted lots of room for a favorite custom layout and extra weight capacity if required, which sits naturally with the fact that each of the nineteen hulls was optimized to owner wishes rather than a single production interior anchor. That flexibility means a used boat's belowdecks arrangement tells you as much about the original commissioning owner as about the class itself.
Known Issues
The documentary record on the SC70 is thin on defects, and the principal cautions arise from the construction method rather than from a documented failure pattern. The standard balsa-cored hull and deck, with glass skins over balsa and epoxy resin, is the kind of sandwich where a breach in the skin lets water into the core, and balsa does not forgive long-term saturation. The availability of exotic alternative cores and layouts per owner spec means that refit history and original build sheet matter more than usual, since two boats can differ substantially in both structure and systems.
Refits and Ownership
Owners could specify hardware and instrumentation from a long supplier list that included Navtec, Barient, Lewmar, Harken, Sparcraft, Proctor, B&G, Ockam, Signet, Seafrost, and Martec, among others, and the builder said owner options in hardware and instrumentation abound anchor. The auxiliary was a Yanmar rated at 140 horsepower in the period review, paired with 200 gallons of fuel and 150 gallons of water — generous for a boat of this racing pedigree and a help to anyone converting a former racer to passage-making use.
The Verdict
The Santa Cruz 70 is a purposeful Bill Lee sled: a 68-foot IOR-optimized thoroughbred that traded the unrated excess of Merlin for a rule-smart hull that still dominated Southern California's big-boat racing and could cruise when asked. Nineteen were built, each tailored, and the balsa-core construction is the one area where an owner must stay vigilant.
Pros
- IOR-friendly Merlin derivative with maximum waterline and minimum wetted surface for instant boat speed
- Dominant off-the-wind pace against typical IOR 70-raters
- Customizable layout and generous fuel and water for high-performance cruising
- Exotic-material and Sub T options from new
Cons
- Balsa-cored standard construction requires disciplined penetration bedding
- Per-owner optimization means no two boats are spec-identical
