Zapata II

History

Zapata II is a true Southern California classic owned by Los Angeles Yacht Club members Sage and Kelly of San Pedro, California, who purchased her in July 2015 from Jim and Marion Jordan. This unique, custom-built yacht was designed by Wendell “Skip” Calkins. She was commissioned for a Southern California owner in 1964 and built by American Marine in Hong Kong (builder of the 'Grand Banks' line of power boats), using strip planked mahogany over oak frames. Zapata II was designed to be light (22,000 pounds (10,000 kg)), maximizing sailing performance (unusual during that era) and proved to be hard to beat in west coast racing events. Skip Calkins designed a fast, light, easily driven hull with a powerful rig. This custom design followed the famous (light displacement) “LEGEND”, winner of the 1957 Honolulu race. The yachts were cutting edge for their time. She is 70% the weight with 130% better ballast displacement ratio than the production (Sloop-rigged) Calkins 50. The lines are simple and clean. She is most easily identified by her distinctive flush deck, double-ended hull form (with canoe stern), lack of overhang fore and aft and ketch rig with relatively small aft mast. Maintained to high standards through four Southern California owners, she has benefited from 35 years of continuous ownership by her previous owners, the Jordans. Zapata II was winner of several yacht opening day inspections trophies. She is a classic, one-of-a-kind vessel with an excellent history.