Yacht designer W.I.B. Crealock dies

[Guillermo]

W.I.B. Crealock, a yacht designer, sailor and sailing author, died Sept. 26 at his home in Carlsbad after breaking his hip in a fall. He was 89.

Crealock was part of the "golden age" of fiberglass design in the 1960s, when the use of fiberglass made boats quicker and less expensive to build and easier to handle.

Read more at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-william-crealock10-2009oct10,0,5398248.story

In 2002, one of Crealock's designs, the Pacific Seacraft 36, was inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame. The citation called the craft "a classic American sailboat with an honesty of design that, combined with the highest standards of boatbuilding . . . has shown the sailing industry that there is a place in the hearts and budgets of sailors for a boat created expressly to go to sea and bring the crew back safely."

Perhaps we can gather and discuss some of his designs here.

Cheers.

[Guillermo]

I have been searching for the PS 36, as said in the Crealock's obituary, but I find the PS 37 (http://www.sailamerica.com/halloffame/pacificseacraft.asp)instead.

Cheers.

[Knut Sand]

Guess you're right on it:

http://www.sailamerica.com/halloffame/pacificseacraft.asp

Knut

[bntii]

I have admired his PS 37 for years.

I got a chance to hear him speak a while back. He was an engaging speaker.
Started his lecture by stating;
"I'd like to tell you that if 100 sailboats set out to sail the Atlantic, only the Pacific Seacraft would make it back, and it would only make it because of my canoe stern...

unfortunately I can't tell you that."

He went on to carefully describe his design ideals expressed in the Pacific Seacraft boats.

[Guillermo]

"Seaworthiness in a cruising boat has to be the No. 1 consideration. It doesn't matter how cute the boat is if it doesn't get (the cruisers to their destination) in one piece ... Just about any boat does well in Southern California. A bathtub would do fairly well. But when things get bad, when it's blowing hard and rough, that's when the difference between boats shows up most. But beyond safety, you must give up in some areas to achieve in others. The boat must be aesthetically pleasing to the owner and not too slow – nobody likes a slow boat. But you can't take a camper and put it on a Ferrari and say you have the ideal combination."

Bill Crealock.

[Guillermo]

His designs:

COLUMBIA 22 (+230) 1966
ERICSON 26 1966
COLUMBIA 28 1967
COLUMBIA 36 1967
EXCALIBUR 26 1967
COLUMBIA 21 1968
COLUMBIA 28-2 1969
ISLANDER 23 1969
CLIPPER 4C 1969
SAILCRAFTER 36 1969
CLIPPER MARINE 26 FK 1970
CLIPPER MARINE 26 1970
COLUMBIA 36 MII 1970
KENDALL 32 1971
WESTSAIL 32 1971
CLIPPER MARINE 21 1971
CLIPPER 4 1973
WILLARD 30/8T 1973
DREADNOUGHT 32 1973
CORTEZ 16 1973
WESTSAIL 42 1974
CORONADO 28 1974
FALES NAVIGATOR 32 1974
CLIPPER MARINE 30 1974
CLIPPER MARINE 1/4 TON 1974
TIBURON 36 1974
HARSTAD 31 1975
CLIPPER MARINE 23 1976
CABO RICO 38 1976
CLIPPER MARINE 32 1976
CREALOCK 34 (PACIFIC SEACRAFT) 1979
CREALOCK 37 (PACIFIC SEACRAFT) 1979
DANA 24 1986
CABO RICO 34 1987
CREALOCK 44 (PACIFIC SEACRAFT) 1990
PACIFIC SEACRAFT 40 1995
CABO RICO 45 1998

[RHough]

His designs:
EXCALIBUR 26 1967


This was the very first keelboat I owned. If I could find another in restorable condition I would jump on it.

The boat was light 3500-3700# and was a dream to sail. Very forgiving and well balanced.

The lines were very much like a scaled down Cal 40.

Great boat.

R

[Guillermo]

Thanks, RHough
Some info here on the EXCALIBUR 26:
http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_ID=474

Cheers.

[RHough]

Thanks, RHough
Some info here on the EXCALIBUR 26:
http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_ID=474

Cheers.

Many years ago, the Excalibur 26 was on the best boats for SF Bay list.

The story at the time was that the boat was commissioned by some wealthy doctors and the first ones were built to mini-yacht standards. One of the requirements for the design was that it have an enclosed, permanent head. For many, the resistance to going sailing on a small boat where using the head with no privacy was a deal killer for getting your girlfriend to go sailing. The Excalibur was a bachelor's boat. Enclosed head, a decent galley, and the dinette table dropped down to make a very nice double for a romantic weekend.

With only 18" between the bottom of the deck and the top of the cushions in the V-Berth and poor ventilation ... it was not really a practical sleeping berth.

My daughter learned to sail on my Excalibur and she spent weekends with me during the year I lived aboard ...

She was named "Wasp" after the boat that Stuart Little used to beat the Lillian B Womrath in a toy boat race ...

That keel is huge by today's standards but gave the boat wonderful sailing character. I could lash the tiller and steer her with trim adjustments out the channel and into SF Bay. On the run/reach back she would reach one leg of that channel with the spinnaker up at less than 90 degrees off the true wind ... as if she were on rails.

In one 2 year period we did 85 races (two beercans a week in the summer and many weekends) with an average score of under 3 points. (3/4 first, 2 2nd, etc.) Wasp took care of me through every mistake and always made her crew look good.

Damn ... I really miss that boat.

Wasp was lost after a being holed in a Port/Starboard incident. To the end she was a trooper, we sailed into the channel and found a mud flat before she sank. Alas the damage made her a write-off and I learned the hard way that all marine policies are not equal.

WIB Crealock did some good boats.

R

[TollyWally]

A fitting story. Not bad for the result of a man's work to be so well admired and so well used by a happy customer. Nice memories for a father and daughter.

[keith66]

A friend brought a 32 to our club some years ago, the attention to detail & sheer quality made most other yachts look like they had come out of a christmas cracker.