Santa Cruz Sentinel

Local News

Subscribe

Sentinel staff writer

Save for the varying nature of technical instruments onboard, the typical boats marine life researchers use are similar to any others on the water. They tend to be gas powered, noisy and have the potential to pollute the very habitat the researchers are trying to study.

A South County-based boat-making business is seeking to change that one boat at a time.

Wyliecats, on Grove Street in Watsonville, has created a 65-foot, 35,000-pound, wind-driven vessel that emits no pollution as it helps researchers and educators unlock the secrets of the world’s oceans, or maybe just that of Monterey Bay.

"This is our idea of the right tool to study the ocean," said Tom Wylie of Wylie Design Group, which designed the so-called sailing RV named "Derek M. Baylis," after his mentor.

The Derek M. Baylis is the largest Wylie design built locally, by David Wahle. The boat is so light it can be steered by a 12-year-old; so silent it won’t scare away wildlife; and can travel at speeds that rival typical gas-powered sailboats. Wylie goes as far to say that his creation’s "motion is similar to that of creatures that inhabit the ocean."

And while the boat is fitted with plumbing, none of the waste gets flushed into the sea, he added.

The Derek M. Baylis can hold 49 passengers as a day-trip vessel or offers yacht-styled comforts for up to 12 people during overnight voyages and explorations.

While the vessel is primarily wind powered, it is equipped with a 24-volt DC/115-Volt AC system augmented by a generator and auxiliary turbo diesel engine with a cruising range of 1,500 nautical miles at 10 knots.

Wylie has designed about 50 boats. One of his works is the Ocean Planet, which is sailing around the world in the Around Alone race. The team’s feat began last fall. At last report, the team was in Brazil last Thursday. For information, visit www.oceanplanet.org.

Wylie and Wahle have designed and built more than 20 racing sailboats. The duo’s latest creation is to be unloaded in Moss Landing today and tested in the open seas in the next few weeks. Their goal is to make the $1.1 million boat available to researchers and schools to study the ocean.

For information, call Tom Wylie at 376-7338.

Contact Ramona Turner at rturner@santa-cruz.com.

Subscribe